EU Development of High Heat Flux Components

The development of plasma facing components for next step fusion devices in Europe is strongly focused to ITER. Here a wide spectrum of different design options for the divertor target and the first wall have been investigated with tungsten, CFC, and beryllium armor. Electron beam simulation experiments have been used to determine the performance of high heat flux components under ITER specific thermal loads. Beside thermal fatigue loads with power density levels up to 20MWm(-2), off normal events are a serious concern for the lifetime of plasma facing components. These phenomena are expected to occur on a time scale of a few milliseconds (plasma disruptions) or several hundred milliseconds (vertical displacement events) and have been identified as a major source for the production of neutron activated metallic or tritium enriched carbon dust which is of serious importance from a safety point of view. The irradiation induced material degradation is another critical concern for future D-T-burning fusion devices. In ITER the integrated neutron fluence to the first wall and the divertor armour will remain in the order of I dpa and 0.7 dpa, respectively. This value is low compared to future commercial fusion reactors; nevertheless, a non-negligible degradation of the materials has been detected, both for mechanical and thermal properties, in particular for the thermal conductivity of carbon based materials. Beside the degradation of individual material properties, the high heat flux performance of actively cooled plasma facing components has been investigated under ITER specific thermal and neutron loads

Combustion instability research Summary report, 1970

Combustion instability in liquid rocket engine

Glutamatergic neurons induce expression of functional glutamatergic synapses in primary myotubes.

The functioning of the nervous system depends upon the specificity of its synaptic contacts. The mechanisms triggering the expression of the appropriate receptors on postsynaptic membrane and the role of the presynaptic partner in the differentiation of postsynaptic structures are little known.To address these questions we cocultured murine primary muscle cells with several glutamatergic neurons, either cortical, cerebellar or hippocampal. Immunofluorescence and electrophysiology analyses revealed that functional excitatory synaptic contacts were formed between glutamatergic neurons and muscle cells. Moreover, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence experiments showed that typical anchoring proteins of central excitatory synapses coimmunoprecipitate and colocalize with rapsyn, the acetylcholine receptor anchoring protein at the neuromuscular junction.These results support an important role of the presynaptic partner in the induction and differentiation of the postsynaptic structures

West Nile virus circulation in Veneto region in 2008-2009.

SUMMARYWest Nile virus (WNV) was detected in Italy, in late summer 2008 in horses and birds in the Po valley. As a consequence, an intense WNV surveillance was implemented in that area involving Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy. This paper presents the results of the September 2008–November 2009 surveillance on equines, mosquitoes, wild birds, dogs and cattle in Veneto. WNV was detected in equines and dogs, and, to a lesser extent in cattle and wild birds. Simultaneous circulation of Usutu virus was detected by testing wild birds found dead. Usutu virus but not WNV was also found in mosquitoes monitored during 2009. Equine practices monitoring allowed the definition of an area of WNV circulation and the 2008–2009 westward and northward spread of the infection. Although a relatively low number of human cases and a low virus circulation in vectors and birds detected in Veneto region could be considered favourable conditions for a limited risk of human exposure, it remains difficult to predict the possible evolution of the epidemiological situation

Impact of emergency oral rabies vaccination of foxes in northeastern Italy, 28 December 2009-20 January 2010: preliminary evaluation.

Fox rabies re-emerged in northeastern Italy in 2008, in an area bordering Slovenia. In 2009, the infection spread westward to Veneto region and in 2010 to the provinces of Trento and Bolzano. Aerial emergency oral fox vaccination was implemented in the winter 2009-10. Since this vaccination was performed at altitudes below the freezing level, a statistical analysis was conducted to evaluate its impact. Of the foxes sampled following the vaccination campaign, 77% showed a rabies antibody titre of ≥0.5 IU/ml

Rabies and canine distemper virus epidemics in the red fox population of Northern Italy (2006–2010)

Since 2006 the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in north-eastern Italy has experienced an epidemic of canine distemper virus (CDV). Additionally, in 2008, after a thirteen-year absence from Italy, fox rabies was re-introduced in the Udine province at the national border with Slovenia. Disease intervention strategies are being developed and implemented to control rabies in this area and minimise risk to human health. Here we present empirical data and the epidemiological picture relating to these epidemics in the period 2006-2010. Of important significance for epidemiological studies of wild animals, basic mathematical models are developed to exploit information collected from the surveillance program on dead and/or living animals in order to assess the incidence of infection. These models are also used to estimate the rate of transmission of both diseases and the rate of vaccination, while correcting for a bias in early collection of CDV samples. We found that the rate of rabies transmission was roughly twice that of CDV, with an estimated effective contact between infected and susceptible fox leading to a new infection occurring once every 3 days for rabies, and once a week for CDV. We also inferred that during the early stage of the CDV epidemic, a bias in the monitoring protocol resulted in a positive sample being almost 10 times more likely to be collected than a negative sample. We estimated the rate of intake of oral vaccine at 0.006 per day, allowing us to estimate that roughly 68% of the foxes would be immunised. This was confirmed by field observations. Finally we discuss the implications for the eco-epidemiological dynamics of both epidemics in relation to control measures

Operating a full tungsten actively cooled tokamak: overview of WEST first phase of operation

WEST is an MA class superconducting, actively cooled, full tungsten (W) tokamak, designed to operate in long pulses up to 1000 s. In support of ITER operation and DEMO conceptual activities, key missions of WEST are: (i) qualification of high heat flux plasma-facing components in integrating both technological and physics aspects in relevant heat and particle exhaust conditions, particularly for the tungsten monoblocks foreseen in ITER divertor; (ii) integrated steady-state operation at high confinement, with a focus on power exhaust issues. During the phase 1 of operation (2017–2020), a set of actively cooled ITER-grade plasma facing unit prototypes was integrated into the inertially cooled W coated startup lower divertor. Up to 8.8 MW of RF power has been coupled to the plasma and divertor heat flux of up to 6 MW m−2 were reached. Long pulse operation was started, using the upper actively cooled divertor, with a discharge of about 1 min achieved. This paper gives an overview of the results achieved in phase 1. Perspectives for phase 2, operating with the full capability of the device with the complete ITER-grade actively cooled lower divertor, are also described