Conceptual design of the EU-DEMO dual coolant lithium lead equatorial module

© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Within the framework of EUROfusion Program, the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL) is one of the four EU breeder blanket concepts that are being investigated as candidates for DEMO. DCLL uses PbLi as the main coolant, tritium breeder, tritium carrier, and neutron multiplier. The main structures, including the first wall, are cooled with helium. The EU program proposed for the next years will consider a DCLL version limited to 550 °C in order to allow the use of conventional materials and technologies. During the first year of EUROfusion activities, a draft design of the DCLL has been proposed. The main blanket performances were adapted to the new specifications and the CAD model of DEMO. The breeder zone has been toroidally divided into four parallel PbLi circuits, separated through stiffening grid radial walls. The PbLi flow routing has been designed to maximize the amount of thermal power extracted by flowing PbLi and to avoid the occurrence of reverse flows due to volumetric heating. Thermal hydraulics, magnetohydrodynamic and neutronics calculations have been performed for the first draft design. The new DCLL design employs Eurofer-alumina-Eurofer sandwich as flow channel insert (FCI).Postprint (published version

Estrategias evolutivas como una opción para la optimización de funciones no lineales con restricciones

Estrategias de evolución es una técnica bio-inspirada, eficiente y robusta para resolver problemas de optimización donde el espacio de soluciones es no restringido. Sin embargo, esta suposición es irreal en muchos casos porque el espacio de soluciones es limitado por fronteras complejas en la forma de restricciones tanto lineales como no lineales. En este artículo de investigación, se propone una modificación al algoritmo original de estrategias de evolución para optimizar problemas donde el espacio de soluciones es limitado usando restricciones complejas. El método propuesto es basado en el uso de una función de penalización la cual es cero dentro de la región factible, e igual al máximo valor dentro de la región factible cuando se considera un punto que es no factible. La aproximación propuesta es probada usando seis problemas de prueba bien conocidos. En todos los casos, esta aproximación encontró un punto óptimo igual o menor que los valores reportados en la literatura

Damped Lyman-alpha Absorption Associated with an Early-Type Galaxy at Redshift z = 0.16377

We report new HST and ground-based observations of a damped Lyman-alpha absorption system toward the QSO 0850+4400. The redshift of the absorption system is z = 0.163770 and the neutral hydrogen column density of the absorption system is log N = 19.81 cm**-2. The absorption system is by far the lowest redshift confirmed damped Lyman-alpha absorption system yet identified, which provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine the nature, impact geometry, and kinematics of the absorbing galaxy in great detail. The observations indicate that the absorption system is remarkable in three respects: First, the absorption system is characterized by weak metal absorption lines and a low metal abundance, possibly less than 4% of the solar metal abundance. This cannot be explained as a consequence of dust, because the neutral hydrogen column density of the absorption system is far too low for obscuration by dust to introduce any significant selection effects. Second, the absorption system is associated with a moderate-luminosity early-type S0 galaxy, although the absorption may actually arise in one of several very faint galaxies detected very close to the QSO line of sight. Third, the absorbing material moves counter to the rotating galaxy disk, which rules out the possibility that the absorption arises in a thin or thick co-rotating gaseous disk. These results run contrary to the expectation that low-redshift damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems generally arise in the gas- and metal-rich inner parts of late-type spiral galaxies. We suggest instead that mounting evidence indicates that low-redshift galaxies of a variety of morphological types may contain significant quantities of low metal abundance gas at large galactocentric distances.Comment: 15 pages, LaTex, 4 figures, to be published in The Astronomical Journa

One year follow-up of a randomized trial with a dilemma-focused intervention for depression: Exploring an alternative to problem-oriented strategies

© 2018 Feixas et al.Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is aimed to counteract cognitions and behaviours that are considered as dysfunctional. The aim of the study is to test whether the inclusion of a non-counteractive approach (dilemma-focused intervention, DFI) in combination with CBT group therapy will yield better short- and long-term outcomes than an intervention conducted entirely using CBT.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Spectrum of Neutral Helium in Strong Magnetic Fields

We present extensive and accurate calculations for the excited state spectrum of spin-polarized neutral helium in a range of magnetic field strengths up to $10^{12}$ G. Of considerable interest to models of magnetic white dwarf stellar atmospheres, we also present results for the dipole strengths of the low lying transitions among these states. Our methods rely on a systematically saturated basis set approach to solving the Hartree--Fock self-consistent field equations, combined with an ``exact'' stochastic method to estimate the residual basis set truncation error and electron correlation effects. We also discuss the applicability of the adiabatic approximation to strongly magnetized multi-electron atoms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 10 table

Altered calcium signaling in platelets from nitric oxide-deficient hypertensive rats

BACKGROUND: In the present study we have analyzed the mechanisms of calcium entry and mobilization in platelets obtained from rats chronically treated with the nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, N-nitro L-arginine methyl ester [L-NAME, 40 mg/kg/day, 5 days). The platelets were obtained the day of the experiment, washed and loaded with fura-2. The intracellular calcium levels were determined in suspension of cells by means of fluorescence spectroscopy. RESULTS: Basal calcium levels were always elevated in the platelets of the L-NAME-treated rats, both in the presence and in the absence of extracellular calcium. The administration of thrombin in the absence and in the presence of extracellular calcium induced important elevations in calcium levels that were always of greater magnitude in the platelets of the L-NAME-treated rats than in those of the controls. The addition of calcium to thapsigargin-treated platelets produced a massive elevation in calcium levels in both groups that was significantly greater in the platelets obtained from the hypertensive rats than in those of the controls. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the arterial hypertension induced by the reduction of nitric oxide alters the regulation of platelet calcium levels so that elevated baseline levels and calcium entry and mobilization are enhanced. This could be the result of direct or indirect effects of the lack of nitric oxide synthesis in platelets or in other tissues