Plasma lipoprotein subfraction concentrations are associated with lipid metabolism and age-related macular degeneration

10.1194/jlr.M073684Journal of Lipid Research5891785-179

Melter Throughput Enhancements for High-Iron HLW

This report describes work performed to develop and test new glass and feed formulations in order to increase glass melting rates in high waste loading glass formulations for HLW with high concentrations of iron. Testing was designed to identify glass and melter feed formulations that optimize waste loading and waste processing rate while meeting all processing and product quality requirements. The work included preparation and characterization of crucible melts to assess melt rate using a vertical gradient furnace system and to develop new formulations with enhanced melt rate. Testing evaluated the effects of waste loading on glass properties and the maximum waste loading that can be achieved. The results from crucible-scale testing supported subsequent DuraMelter 100 (DM100) tests designed to examine the effects of enhanced glass and feed formulations on waste processing rate and product quality. The DM100 was selected as the platform for these tests due to its extensive previous use in processing rate determination for various HLW streams and glass compositions

Enhanced Sulfate Management in HLW Glass Formulations VSL12R2540-1 REV 0

The Low Activity Waste (LAW) tanks that are scheduled to provide the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) with waste feeds contain significant amounts of sulfate. The sulfate content in the LAW feeds is sufficiently high that a separate molten sulfate salt phase may form on top of the glass melt during the vitrification process unless suitable glass formulations are employed and sulfate levels are controlled. Since the formation of the salt phase is undesirable from many perspectives, mitigation approaches had to be developed. Considerable progress has been made and reported by the Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) in enhancing sulfate incorporation into LAW glass melts and developing strategies to manage and mitigate the risks associated with high-sulfate feeds

Laparoscopic repair of very large hiatus hernia with sutures versus absorbable mesh versus nonabsorbable mesh a randomized controlled trial

Author version made available in accordance with pubilsher policy. 12 month embargo applies from the date of publication (1 Feb 2015).Objective: Determine whether absorbable or non-absorbable mesh in repair of large hiatus hernias reduces the risk of recurrence, compared to suture repair. Summary Background Data: Repair of large hiatus hernia is associated with radiological recurrence rates of up to 30%, and to improve outcomes mesh repair has been recommended. Previous trials have shown less short term recurrence with mesh, but adverse outcomes limit mesh use. Methods: Multicentre prospective double blind randomized controlled trial of 3 methods of repair; sutures vs. absorbable mesh vs. non-absorbable mesh. Primary outcome - hernia recurrence assessed by barium meal X-ray and endoscopy at 6 months. Secondary outcomes - clinical symptom scores at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: 126 patients enrolled - 43 sutures, 41 absorbable mesh and 42 non-absorbable mesh. 96.0% were followed to 12 months, with objective follow-up data in 92.9%. A recurrent hernia (any size) was identified in 23.1% following suture repair, 30.8% - absorbable mesh, and 12.8% - non-absorbable mesh (p=0.161). Clinical outcomes were similar, except less heartburn at 3 & 6 months and less bloating at 12 months with non-absorbable mesh, and more heartburn at 3 months, odynophagia at 1 month, nausea at 3 & 12 months, wheezing at 6 months, and inability to belch at 12 months following absorbable mesh. The magnitude of the clinical differences were small. Conclusions: No significant differences were seen for recurrent hiatus hernia, and the clinical differences were unlikely to be clinically significant. Overall outcomes following sutured repair were similar to mesh repair

Impurity correlations in dilute Kondo alloys

The single impurity Kondo model is often used to describe metals with dilute concentrations (n_i) of magnetic impurities. Here we examine how dilute the impurities must be for this to be valid by developing a virial expansion in impurity density. The O(n_i^2) term is determined from results on the 2-impurity Kondo problem by averaging over the RKKY coupling. The non-trivial fixed point of the 2-impurity problem could produce novel singularities in the heat capacity of dilute alloys at O(n_i^2).Comment: 6 pages, no figure

Development of the vitrification compositional envelope to support complex-wide application of MAWS technology

This report presents the results from a study of the application of the Minimum Additive Waste Stabilization (MAWS) approach using vitrification as a treatment technology to a variety of waste streams across the DOE complex. This work has involved both experimental vitrification work using actual mixed wastes and surrogate waste streams from several DOE sites (Hanford, Idaho, and Oak Ridge) as well as the development of a computer-based, integrated glass property-composition database. The long-term objective is that this data base will assist glass formulation studies with single waste streams or combinations of waste streams subject to a variety of user-imposed constraints including waste stream usage priorities, process related constraints (e.g., melt viscosity, electrical conductivity, etc.), and waste form performance related constraints (e.g., TCLP and PCT leaching results). 79 refs., 143 figs., 65 tabs

Sellafield Thermal Treatment Trials Using Advanced Joule Heated Ceramic Melter Technology -WM-10110

ABSTRACT The viability of thermal treatment using vitrification to immobilize two types of Sellafield intermediate level wastes (ILW) has been successfully demonstrated in proof-of-concept trials. The testing employed a type of Joule Heated Ceramic Melter (JHCM) technology that incorporates active mixing of the melt pool. Melt pool mixing improves heat and mass transport, increases waste processing rates, thereby reducing systems size and/or operating duration, and therefore overall treatment costs. Simulants for two Sellafield ILW streams-a Magnox sludge and a sand/clinoptilolite ion exchange waste slurry-were developed for testing in this work. Glass formulations were developed and tested for each of the two ILW streams. Acceptable glass formulations that met all processability and product quality constraints were selected for testing on a small-scale continuously-fed vitrification system. Two tests of nominally 50-hour duration were completed. Data were collected to characterize operating conditions, processing rates, and glass and off-gas compositions for mass balance. Key performance objectives included minimum nonactive additives; maximum volume reduction for the wastes; maximum retention of radionuclide and chemotoxic elements; minimal secondary wastes that require other processing; maximum passivation and stabilization of wastes; and meeting product compliance requirements. Test results demonstrate that vitrification using JHCM technology is well suited to immobilize the two Sellafield waste streams tested. The required system size and operating duration are well within the realm of prior experience of this technology. The technology offers the potential to significantly reduce lifecycle cost because the high volume reductions minimize the volume of treated wastes to be disposed, while the glass waste form offers superior waste form performance compared to almost all alternatives

The α-dystroglycan N-terminus is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 and enveloped viruses

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need to develop effective therapeutics in preparedness for further epidemics of virus infections that pose a significant threat to human health. As a natural compound antiviral candidate, we focused on α-dystroglycan, a highly glycosylated basement membrane protein that links the extracellular matrix to the intracellular cytoskeleton. Here we show that the N-terminal fragment of α-dystroglycan (α-DGN), as produced in E. coli in the absence of post-translational modifications, blocks infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture, human primary gut organoids and the lungs of transgenic mice expressing the human receptor angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Prophylactic and therapeutic administration of α-DGN reduced SARS-CoV-2 lung titres and protected the mice from respiratory symptoms and death. Recombinant α-DGN also blocked infection of a wide range of enveloped viruses including the four Dengue virus serotypes, influenza A virus, respiratory syncytial virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, but not human adenovirus, a non-enveloped virus in vitro. This study establishes soluble recombinant α-DGN as a broad-band, natural compound candidate therapeutic against enveloped viruses.</p

The Screening Cloud in the k-Channel Kondo Model: Perturbative and Large-k Results

We demonstrate the existence of a large Kondo screening cloud in the k-channel Kondo model using both renormalization group improved perturbation theory and the large-k limit. We study position (r) dependent spin Green's functions in both static and equal time cases. The equal-time Green's function provides a natural definition of the screening cloud profile, in which the large Kondo scale appears. At large distances it consists of both a slowly varying piece and a piece which oscillates at twice the Fermi wave-vector. This function is calculated at all r in the large-k limit. Static Green's functions (Knight shift or susceptibility) consist only of a term oscillating at 2kF, and appear to factorize into a function of r times a function of T for rT << vF, in agreement with NMR experiments. Most of the integrated susceptibility comes from the impurity-impurity part with conduction electron contributions suppressed by powers of the bare Kondo coupling. The single-channel and overscreened multi-channel cases are rather similar although anomalous power-laws occur in the latter case at large r and low T due to irrelevant operator corrections.Comment: 22 Revtex pages, 12 figure

TESS Discovery of an ultra-short-period planet around the nearby M dwarf LHS 3844

Data from the newly-commissioned \textit{Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite} (TESS) has revealed a "hot Earth" around LHS 3844, an M dwarf located 15 pc away. The planet has a radius of $1.32\pm 0.02$ $R_\oplus$ and orbits the star every 11 hours. Although the existence of an atmosphere around such a strongly irradiated planet is questionable, the star is bright enough ($I=11.9$, $K=9.1$) for this possibility to be investigated with transit and occultation spectroscopy. The star's brightness and the planet's short period will also facilitate the measurement of the planet's mass through Doppler spectroscopy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJ Letters. This letter makes use of the TESS Alert data, which is currently in a beta test phase, using data from the pipelines at the TESS Science Office and at the TESS Science Processing Operations Cente