Contaminant effect on cellular metabolic differential pressure curves.

The possibility of a pressure monitoring system by differential pressure sensors to detect contaminant effects on cellular cultures metabolic activity is discussed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, lymphocyte, and AHH1 cell cultures. Metabolic (aerobic and anaerobic) processes in cells are accompanied by CO2 production that induces changes in pressure values when cells are cultured in sealed vessels. These values are subsequently converted in voltage units and plotted pressure dynamics versus time. This procedure leads to a standard curve, typical of the cellular line, which characterizes cellular metabolism when all parameters are controlled, such as temperature and nutrients. Different phases appear in the S. cerevisiae differential pressure curve: an initial growth up to a maximum, followed by a decrement that leads to a typical "depression" (pressure values inside the test-tubes are lower than the initial one) after about 35 h from the beginning. The S. cerevisiae differential pressure curve is successfully used to test the effects of chemical (Amuchina(R), trieline) and physical (UV radiation, blue light, magnetic fields) contaminants. The same technique is applied to lymphocytes and AHH1 cultures to investigate the effects generated by a 72-h exposure to a 50-Hz, 60-muT electromagnetic field. Lymphocyte samples, cultured in a PHA medium, grow less than control ones, but exhibit a greater metabolic activity: changes in the exposure system configuration influence neither sample growth differences nor metabolic response variations between control and irradiated samples, while all the other irradiation parameters remain constant. Control and irradiated lymphocyte samples, without PHA in culture medium, show the same behavior both during irradiation and metabolic test. AHH1 control and irradiated samples show no difference both in growth percentage during irradiation and in metabolic activity. Different cell cultures respond to the same stimulus in different manners. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

NANOINFORMATIX PLATFORM: DATA AND MODELLING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SAFETY ASSESSMENT AND SAFE BY DESIGN OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS USED IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

In the NanoInformaTIX project we are developing a sustainable data management and multi-scale modelling framework to facilitate the (eco)toxicity and exposure assessment of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) for the purposes of more cost-effective risk analysis and safety by design. This framework will be implemented as a web-based platform specifically tailored to the needs of stakeholders from industry, regulators and academia. The platform will be implemented as a digital EU hub connecting relevant databases to nanoinformatics models covering Materials, Exposure, Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetics (PBPK), Quantitative-Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) and System Biology to support in vitro-in vivo extrapolations (IVIVE), grouping and read-across. The databases and models will be linked to the platform by means of a common Application Programming Interface (API) to enable real-time updating of the models by their developers. To establish interoperability between models and/or data repositories we adopted the Modelling Data Elements (MODA) scheme of the European Materials Modelling Council. This will enable the user to design chains of data sources and models corresponding to specific analyses (e.g. prediction of genotoxicity, dose-response assessment, IVIVE). The model inputs and outputs will be clearly documented, while the results of the analyses will be presented as both dynamic charts and textual reports. To obtain optimal confidence in the use of the platform, the models, their applicability domains, and the steps to create the model chains will be carefully documented according to established standards and Good Practices

Opening Schools and Trends in SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in European Countries

none11noObjectives: Benefits of school attendance have been debated against SARS-CoV-2 contagion risks. This study examined the trends of contagion before and after schools reopened across 26 countries in the European Union. Methods: We compared the average values of estimated Rt before and after school reopening, identifying any significant increase with a one-sample t-test. A meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis were performed to calculate the overall increase in Rt for countries in the EU and to search for relationships between Rt before schools reopened and the average increase in Rt afterward. Results: The mean reproduction number increased in 16 out of 26 countries. The maximum increase in Rt was reached after a mean 28 days. We found a negative relationship between the Rt before school reopening and its increasing after that event. By 45 days after the first day of school reopening, the overall average increase in Rt for the European Union was 23%. Conclusion: We observed a significant increase in the mean reproduction number in most European countries, a public health issue that needs strategies to contain the spread of COVID-19.Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: AB, RF, GB, VC, SCor, and SCoc; Analyzed the data: AB, VC, RF, GB, FZ, and SCoc; Contributed materials: AB, VR, MPar; Wrote the paper: AB, MPag, VC, TB, RF, GB, SCoc SCor, VR, FZ, and MPar. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript. Funding Funding for this study was provided by University of Padova–Project MOSSCOV–“Impact of different healthcare System Models and of different Containment measures on the spread and health outcomes of COVID-19 in Italy and Europe”.openBuja, Alessandra; Zabeo, Federico; Cristofori, Vittorio; Paganini, Matteo; Baldovin, Tatjana; Fusinato, Riccardo; Boccuzzo, Giovanna; Cocchio, Silvia; Coretti, Silvia; Rebba, Vincenzo; Parpinel, MariaBuja, Alessandra; Zabeo, Federico; Cristofori, Vittorio; Paganini, Matteo; Baldovin, Tatjana; Fusinato, Riccardo; Boccuzzo, Giovanna; Cocchio, Silvia; Coretti, Silvia; Rebba, Vincenzo; Parpinel, Mari

Impact of nitrogen seeding on confinement and power load control of a high-triangularity JET ELMy H-mode plasma with a metal wall

This paper reports the impact on confinement and power load of the high-shape 2.5MA ELMy H-mode scenario at JET of a change from an all carbon plasma facing components to an all metal wall. In preparation to this change, systematic studies of power load reduction and impact on confinement as a result of fuelling in combination with nitrogen seeding were carried out in JET-C and are compared to their counterpart in JET with a metallic wall. An unexpected and significant change is reported on the decrease of the pedestal confinement but is partially recovered with the injection of nitrogen.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figure

Overview of JET results

Since the last IAEA conference, the scientific programme of JET has focused on the qualification of the integrated operating scenarios for ITER and on physics issues essential for the consolidation of design choices and the efficient exploitation of ITER. Particular attention has been given to the characterization of the edge plasma, pedestal energy and edge localized modes (ELMs), and their impact on plasma facing components (PFCs). Various ELM mitigation techniques have been assessed for all ITER operating scenarios using active methods such as resonant magnetic field perturbation, rapid variation of the radial field and pellet pacing. In particular, the amplitude and frequency of type I ELMs have been actively controlled over a wide parameter range (q95 = 3-4.8, βN ≥ 3.0) by adjusting the amplitude of the n = 1 external perturbation field induced by error field correction coils. The study of disruption induced heat loads on PFCs has taken advantage of a new wide-angle viewing infrared system and a fast bolometer to provide a detailed account of time, localization and form of the energy deposition. Specific ITER-relevant studies have used the unique JET capability of varying the toroidal field (TF) ripple from its normal low value δBT = 0.08% up to δBT = 1% to study the effect of TF ripple on high confinement-mode plasmas. The results suggest that δBT < 0.5% is required on ITER to maintain adequate confinement to allow QDT = 10 at full field. Physics issues of direct relevance to ITER include heat and toroidal momentum transport, with experiments using power modulation to decouple power input and torque to achieve first experimental evidence of inward momentum pinch in JET and determine the threshold for ion temperature gradient driven modes. Within the longer term JET programme in support of ITER, activities aiming at the modification of the JET first wall and divertor and the upgrade of the neutral beam and plasma control systems are being conducted. The procurement of all components will be completed by 2009 with the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and tungsten divertor extending from summer 2009 to summer 2010