The Divertor Tokamak Test facility proposal: Physical requirements and reference design

The main goal of the Divertor Tokamak Test facility (DTT) is to explore alternative power exhaust solutions for DEMO. The principal objective is to mitigate the risk of a difficult extrapolation to fusion reactor of the conventional divertor based on detached conditions under test on ITER. The task includes several issues, as: (i) demonstrating a heat exhaust system capable of withstanding the large load of DEMO in case of inadequate radiated power fraction; (ii) closing the gaps in the exhaust area that cannot be addressed by present devices; (iii) demonstrating how the possible implemented solutions (e.g., advanced divertor configurations or liquid metals) can be integrated in a DEMO device. In view of these goals, the basic physical DTT parameters have been selected according to the following guidelines: (i) edge conditions as close as possible to DEMO in terms of dimensionless parameters; (ii) flexibility to test a wide set of divertor concepts and techniques; (iii) compatibility with bulk plasma performance; (iv) an upper bound of 500 M€ for the investment costs. © 2017 The Author

A dairy bacterium displays in vitro probiotic properties for the pharyngeal mucosa by antagonizing group A streptococci and modulating the immune response

The probiotic approach represents an alternative strategy in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, not only at the intestinal level but also at other sites of the body where the microbiota plays a role in the maintenance of physiological homeostasis. In this context, we evaluated in vitro the potential abilities of probiotic and dairy bacteria in controlling Streptococcus pyogenes infections at the pharyngeal level. Initially, we analyzed bacterial adhesion to FaDu hypopharyngeal carcinoma cells and the ability to antagonize S. pyogenes on FaDu cell layers and HaCat keratinocytes. Due to its promising adhesive and antagonistic features, we studied the dairy strain Lactobacillus helveticus MIMLh5, also through in vitro immunological experiments. First, we performed quantification of several cytokines and measurement of NF-\u3baB activation in FaDu cells. MIMLh5 efficiently reduced the induction of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-\u3b1), in a dose-dependent manner. After stimulation of cells with IL-1\u3b2, active NF-\u3baB was still markedly lowered. Nevertheless, we observed an increased secretion of IL-6, gamma interferon (IFN-\u3b3), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) under these conditions. These effects were associated with the ability of MIMLh5 to enhance the expression of the heat shock protein coding gene hsp70. In addition, MIMLh5 increased the GM-CSF/G-CSF ratio. This is compatible with a switch of the immune response toward a TH1 pathway, as supported by our observation that MIMLh5, once in contact with bone marrow-derived dendritic cells, triggered the secretion of TNF-\u3b1 and IL-2. In conclusion, we propose MIMLh5 as a potential probiotic bacterium for the human pharynx, with promising antagonistic and immunomodulatory properties

Increased frequency of activated CD8+ T cell effectors in patients with psoriatic arthritis

The aim of this study is to identify subsets of T cells differentially represented in the circulation of patients with psoriatic arthritis and to evaluate the possibility that they can recirculate between peripheral blood and the inflamed joints. We analyzed the phenotype and cytokine expression in circulating CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in 69 subjects: 28 with cutaneous psoriasis, 15 patients with psoriatic arthritis, and 26 healthy subjects. In the circulation, the percentage of each subset was compared among the groups and correlation was calculated with the serum concentration of C-reactive protein. To investigate the migration of T cells towards the inflamed joints, we performed a transwell migration assay towards patient serum and synovial fluid. In selected patients we analyzed in parallel T cells from peripheral blood and from synovial fluid. In the circulation, we found increased percentage of CD8+ CCR6+ T cell effectors expressing CD69 and of IL-17-producing T cells in patients with psoriatic arthritis. CD8+ effector/effector memory T cells showed increased migration towards synovial fluid. Finally, in synovial fluid we found accumulation of CXCR3+ CD8+ T cells and CD69+ cells. CD4+ T cells in the two compartments shared many similarities with CD8+ T cells. The results indicate a role for memory T cell effectors in systemic and joint manifestations of psoriatic arthritis

Author Correction: μMAPPS: a novel phasor approach to second harmonic analysis for in vitro-in vivo investigation of collagen microstructure

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper

Preliminary analysis of the ICRF launcher for DTT

The paper reports the preliminary analysis of different typologies of ICRH launchers for chosing the most efficient solution for the ICRH system of the Divertor Tokamak Test facility (DTT), designed by the Italian DTT Limited Liability Consortium (S.C. a r.l.). In its final configuration this system will couple to the DTT plasma a nominal power of 6 MW in the 60 – 90 MHz frequency range by means of four launchers. This very preliminary analysis has been done with the ANSYS HFSS code

Retroviral gene transfer, rapid selection, and maintenance of the immature phenotype in mouse dendritic cells

We used the retroviral vector PINCO [which expresses the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a selectable marker], to infect growth factor-dependent immature D1 dendritic cells (DC). The efficiency of infection in different experiments was between 5 and 30%, but subsequent cell sorting led to a virtually homogeneous population of GFP-positive cells. Retroviral infection did not modify the immature DC phenotype, as shown by the low expression of major histocompatibility complex and co-stimulatory molecules. Furthermore, the GFP-positive D1 cells underwent full maturation after lipopolysaccharide treatment, as indicated by a high expression of cell-surface MHC and co-stimulatory molecules, and also by strong stimulatory activity in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction. The high efficiency of this retroviral system, the rapidity of the technique, and the possibility to overcome in vitro selection make this method very attractive for the stable introduction of heterologous genes into proliferating immature mouse D1 cells. Furthermore, this approach is suitable for functional studies of new DC-specific genes involved in DC maturation and survival

Linee guida per l’elaborazione del modello idrogeologico concettuale

Introduzione. Il presente quaderno tecnico affronta il tema del modello idrogeologico concettuale, ovvero di quel passaggio dalle categorie storicamente qualitative, naturalistiche della geologia classica, a quelle di un inquadramento stringente, coerente e quantificato dell’idrogeologia applicata e dei suoi corollari numerici. Vengono di seguito descritti metodi, strumenti e concetti per una corretta elaborazione del modello concettuale, ovvero come conglobare l’informazione meteo-climatica, idrochimica, geochimica, agronomica, litologica, petro- chimica ed idrologica in uno schema coerente che consenta la sintesi olistica della dinamica delle acque sotterranee e di quanto esse veicolano, in un quadro comprensibile anche ad altre categorie tecnico-professionali. Un modello concettuale, correttamente concepito, agevola la comprensione dei fenomeni accaduti e la previsione di cosa potrà succedere anche, ma non solo, in conseguenza di azioni antropiche in atto o in programmazione. Si è quindi affrontato anche il tema delle normative che trattano la materia in riferimento alla programmazione ter- ritoriale, alla progettazione di manufatti ed opere ed alla tutela ed al risanamento dell’ambiente. Il modello concettuale è base imprescindibile per ogni successiva valutazione quantitativa. In assenza di un modello verificato e robusto, non solo il passaggio all’implementazione di un modello numerico è velleitario, ma anche i semplici calcoli deterministico-analitici, più ampiamente diffusi ed applicati, rischiano di perdere ogni significato pratico. Ovviamente il quaderno non ha alcuna pretesa di esaustività né di formulare codici, ma cerca semplicemente di for- nire ai colleghi una traccia utile, ancorché insufficiente se non corredata dagli approfondimenti che ciascuno di noi è sempre tenuto a fare, per soddisfare in scienza e coscienza le esigenze dei committenti. Il paragrafo bibliografia e l’annesso glossario servono proprio a questo