The role of spatial and temporal radiation deposition in inertial fusion chambers: the case of HiPER¿

The first wall armour for the reactor chamber of HiPER will have to face short energy pulses of 5 to 20 MJ mostly in the form of x-rays and charged particles at a repetition rate of 5–10 Hz. Armour material and chamber dimensions have to be chosen to avoid/minimize damage to the chamber, ensuring the proper functioning of the facility during its planned lifetime. The maximum energy fluence that the armour can withstand without risk of failure, is determined by temporal and spatial deposition of the radiation energy inside the material. In this paper, simulations on the thermal effect of the radiation–armour interaction are carried out with an increasing definition of the temporal and spatial deposition of energy to prove their influence on the final results. These calculations will lead us to present the first values of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the tungsten armour designed for the HiPER project under a shock ignition target of 48 MJ. The results will show that only the crossing of the plasticity limit in the first few micrometres might be a threat after thousands of shots for the survivability of the armour

ITER breeding blanket design

A breeding blanket design has been developed for ITER to provide the necessary tritium fuel to achieve the technical objectives of the Enhanced Performance Phase. It uses a ceramic breeder and water coolant for compatibility with the ITER machine design of the Basic Performance Phase. Lithium zirconate and lithium oxide am the selected ceramic breeders based on the current data base. Enriched lithium and beryllium neutron multiplier are used for both breeders. Both forms of beryllium material, blocks and pebbles are used at different blanket locations based on thermo-mechanical considerations and beryllium thickness requirements. Type 316LN austenitic steel is used as structural material similar to the shielding blanket. Design issues and required R&D data are identified during the development of the design

Septic Shock Sera Containing Circulating Histones Induce Dendritic Cell–Regulated Necrosis in Fatal Septic Shock Patients

Objectives: Innate immune system alterations, including dendritic cell loss, have been reproducibly observed in patients with septic shock and correlated to adverse outcomes or nosocomial infections. The goal of this study is to better understand the mechanisms behind this observation in order to better assess septic shock pathogenesis.Design: Prospective, controlled experimental study. Setting: Research laboratory at an academic medical center. Subjects: The study enrolled 71 patients, 49 with septic shock and 22 with cardiogenic shock. Seventeen healthy controls served as reference. In vitro monocyte-derived dendritic cells were generated from healthy volunteers. Interventions: Sera were assessed for their ability to promote in vitro dendritic cell death through flow cytometry detection in each group of patients. The percentage of apoptotic or necrotic dendritic cells was evaluated by annexin-V and propidium iodide staining. Measurements and Main Results: We observed that only patients with septic shock and not patients with pure cardiogenic shock were characterized by a rapid and profound loss of circulating dendritic cells. In vitro analysis revealed that sera from patients with septic shock induced higher dendritic cell death compared to normal sera or cardiogenic shock (p < 0.005). Sera from surviving patients induced dendritic cell death through a caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway, whereas sera from nonsurviving patients induced dendritic cell-regulated necrosis. Dendritic cell necrosis was not due to necroptosis but was dependent of the presence of circulating histone. The toxicity of histones toward dendritic cell could be prevented by recombinant human activated protein C. Finally, we observed a direct correlation between the levels of circulating histones in patients and the ability of the sera to promote dendritic cell-regulated necrosis. Conclusions: The study demonstrates a differential mechanism of dendritic cell death in patients with septic shock that is dependent on the severity of the disease

Intensités relatives et largeurs radiatives des raies X : kβI 2, kβII2

We have calculated transition probabilities, relative intensities, and line widths of KβI2 — KβII 2 for a few values of Z. Results obtained using wave functions with Slater screening coefficients are in good agreement with the measurements of O. Beckmann.Nous avons calculé les probabilités de transition, les intensités relatives, et les largeurs des raies du doublet KβI2 — KβII2 de certains éléments. Les résultats obtenus à l'aide de fonctions d'onde hydrogénoïdes relativistes avec coefficient d'écran de Slater sont en bon accord avec les mesures de O. Beckmann