SiC-based sandwich material for Flow Channel Inserts in DCLL blankets: Manufacturing, characterization, corrosion tests

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs) are key elements in a DCLL blanket concept for DEMO, since they provide the required thermal insulation between the He cooled structural steel and the hot liquid PbLi flowing at ≈700 °C, and the necessary electrical insulation to minimize MHD effects. In this work a SiC-based sandwich material is proposed for FCIs, consisting of a porous SiC core covered by a dense CVD-SiC layer. A method to produce the porous SiC core is presented, based on combining a starting mixture of SiC powder with a spherical carbonaceous sacrificial phase, which is removed after sintering by oxidation, in such a way that a microstructure of spherical pores is achieved. Following this technique, a porous SiC material with low thermal and electrical conductivities, but enough mechanical strength was produced. Samples were covered by a 200 μm thick CVD-SiC coating to form a SiC-sandwich material. Finally, corrosion tests under static PbLi were performed, showing that such a dense layer offers a reliable protection against static PbLi corrosion.Horizon 2020 Framework Programme 633053; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Long-term health related quality of life in total knee arthroplasty

Abstract Background To analyze evolution and factors related with greater gains in Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and with a greater probability of exceed their corresponding minimal clinically important differences (MCID) in patients with Osteoarthritis of the knee, undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at long-term. Methods Data were obtained from two previously recruited multicenter cohorts of patients who underwent TKA in the Basque Country. Patients were follow-up at 6 months and 10 years after surgery. Patients completed specific and generic HRQOL questionnaires plus sociodemographic, and clinical data at 10 years. Associations were analysed using linear and logistic regression models. Results A total of 471 patients responded at 10-year follow-up. The multivariable analysis showed that low preoperative HRQOL scores, higher age, higher BMI, some comorbidities and readmissions at 6 months were associated with less gains in HRQOL. Apart from aforementioned, to have a peripheral vascular disease (odd ratio 0.49 (95% CI, 0.24–0.99)), complications (odd ratio 0.31 (95% CI, 0.11–0.91)), and readmissions within 6 months of discharge (odd ratio 2.12 (95% CI, 1.18–3.80)) were associated with a lower probability of exceeding the MCID. The effect sizes (ESs) of changes from baseline to 6 months (range, 1.20–1.96) and to 10 years (range, 1.54–1.99) were large in all dimensions, nevertheless the ESs from 6 months to 10 years were not appreciable for pain (ES = 0.03) or stiffness (ES = 0.09), and small for function (ES = 0.30). Conclusions Low preoperative HRQOL scores, to be elderly, severe obesity, the presence of some comorbidities -depression and rheumatology disease-, having readmissions or complications and not having rehabilitation of discharge, are good predictors of long-term lower gains in HRQOL. Some other non-registered parameters of the follow-up may also influence those outcomes. Key Indexing Terms (MeSH terms): Health-Related Quality of Life, Knee Arthroplasty, Total, Osteoarthriti

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Additional file 2 of Long-term health related quality of life in total knee arthroplasty

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Additional file 1 of Long-term health related quality of life in total knee arthroplasty

Supplementary Material

Fabrication and characterization of SiC sandwich material for Flow Channel Inserts in HT-DCLL blanket by gel casting

Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs) are key elements in the high temperature DCLL blanket concept since they provide the required thermal insulation between the He-cooled structural steel and the hot PbLi flowing at a maximum temperature of 700 ?, and the necessary electrical insulation to minimize magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects. In this paper, the use of SiC-sandwich material for FCIs consisting of a porous SiC core (thermal and electrical insulator) covered by a dense Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) SiC layer (protection against PbLi infiltration) has been studied. Lab-scale FCI prototypes were produced by the gel casting method and characterized in terms of thermal and electrical conductivities (the latter before and after exposure to ionizing radiation) and flexural strength. Corrosion tests under flowing PbLi at 500-700 ?& nbsp;in presence of a magnetic field up to 5 T were performed obtaining promising results regarding the reduction of MHD pressure drop and the compatibility of SiC and PbLi under dynamic conditions. Additionally, thermomechanical finite elements simulations were performed in a 3D channel geometry to identify black spots regarding thermal stresses

A Common 16p11.2 Inversion Underlies the Joint Susceptibility to Asthma and Obesity

The prevalence of asthma and obesity is increasing worldwide, and obesity is a well-documented risk factor for asthma. The mechanisms underlying this association and parallel time trends remain largely unknown but genetic factors may be involved. Here, we report on a common similar to 0.45 Mb genomic inversion at 16p11.2 that can be accurately genotyped via SNP array data. We show that the inversion allele protects against the joint occurrence of asthma and obesity in five large independent studies (combined sample size of 317 cases and 543 controls drawn from a total of 5,809 samples; combined OR = 0.48, p = 5.5 3 x 10(-6)). Allele frequencies show remarkable worldwide population stratification, ranging from 10% in East Africa to 49% in Northern Europe, consistent with discordant and extreme genetic drifts or adaptive selections after human migration out of Africa. Inversion alleles strongly correlate with expression levels of neighboring genes, especially TUFM (p = 3.0 x 10(-40)) that encodes a mitochondrial protein regulator of energy balance and inhibitor of type 1 interferon, and other candidates for asthma (IL27) and obesity (APOB48R and SH2B1). Therefore, by affecting gene expression, the similar to 0.45 Mb 16p11.2 inversion provides a genetic basis for the joint susceptibility to asthma and obesity, with a population attributable risk of 39.7%. Differential mitochondrial function and basal energy balance of inversion alleles might also underlie the potential selection signature that led to their uneven distribution in world populations

Association between Traffic-Related Air Pollution in Schools and Cognitive Development in Primary School Children: A Prospective Cohort Study

<div><p>Background</p><p>Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development.</p><p>Methods and Findings</p><p>We conducted a prospective study of children (<i>n</i> = 2,715, aged 7 to 10 y) from 39 schools in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) exposed to high and low traffic-related air pollution, paired by school socioeconomic index; children were tested four times (i.e., to assess the 12-mo developmental trajectories) via computerized tests (<i>n</i> = 10,112). Chronic traffic air pollution (elemental carbon [EC], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ultrafine particle number [UFP; 10–700 nm]) was measured twice during 1-wk campaigns both in the courtyard (outdoor) and inside the classroom (indoor) simultaneously in each school pair. Cognitive development was assessed with the <i>n</i>-back and the attentional network tests, in particular, working memory (two-back detectability), superior working memory (three-back detectability), and inattentiveness (hit reaction time standard error). Linear mixed effects models were adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, socioeconomic status, and air pollution exposure at home.</p><p>Children from highly polluted schools had a smaller growth in cognitive development than children from the paired lowly polluted schools, both in crude and adjusted models (e.g., 7.4% [95% CI 5.6%–8.8%] versus 11.5% [95% CI 8.9%–12.5%] improvement in working memory, <i>p</i> = 0.0024). Cogently, children attending schools with higher levels of EC, NO2, and UFP both indoors and outdoors experienced substantially smaller growth in all the cognitive measurements; for example, a change from the first to the fourth quartile in indoor EC reduced the gain in working memory by 13.0% (95% CI 4.2%–23.1%). Residual confounding for social class could not be discarded completely; however, the associations remained in stratified analyses (e.g., for type of school or high-/low-polluted area) and after additional adjustments (e.g., for commuting, educational quality, or smoking at home), contradicting a potential residual confounding explanation.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Children attending schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had a smaller improvement in cognitive development.</p></div