The use of digital twins for waste estimation in nuclear facilities\u27 dismantling and decommissioning: the PLEIADES project

Nowadays, a considerable number of nuclear power plants worldwide have reached or will reach the end of their lifespan and will need to be dismantled within the next few decades. Dismantling and decommissioning (D&D) of nuclear facilities is a challenging, complex, and hazardous task that was never foreseen before the first reactors\u27 shutdowns. As part of D&D activities, the waste minimization and waste management have an essential interest. The EU-funded PLEIADES (PLatform based on Emerging and Interoperable Applications for enhanced Decommissioning processES) project gathers 14 partners (academics and research organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industrial companies, and a Technical Safety Organization) representing different stakeholders and providers of the nuclear dismantling domain. Coming from seven European countries, they join forces to demonstrate an innovative digital approach and a new methodology for improving selected key tasks related to D&D. To achieve these goals, the project aims to develop digital twins (DTs) through a BIM (building information modelling) technology-based platform. To structure the data, PLEIADES proposes a decommissioning-oriented ontology that provides a common understanding of the concept, with specific decommissioning terminology. The developed platform provides the integration of the different data and tools. In order to demonstrate the PLEIADES concept, six user stories have been defined based on three real-life use cases from three different European countries, namely France, Norway, and Spain. They allow scenario studies and address application areas such as cost and planning, radiation exposure estimation, and waste assessment. Three of the user stories are directly linked to one use case and focus on comparing alternative scenarios to basic decommissioning activities such as radiological characterization or the decontamination of building surfaces. The other three focus on risk management, uncertainties, regulatory aspects, and waste management strategies. The data feeding the DTs are crucial and require data collection and integration, data security assurance, and data completeness verification. The whole process is iterative until the DTs contain all the necessary information required to perform the user stories simulation. Among others, each simulation using a DT will consider a physical and radiological environment and estimate the waste produced, the waste management process, and the waste management cost. In real applications, the data constituting the DT will depend on each D&D project, but the whole methodology is applicable. This may result in the definition of best practices and the sharing of common processes

European collaborative efforts to achieve effective, safe, and cost-controlled dismantling of nuclear facilities

This paper aims to give an overview of very recent European coordinate efforts to implement technologies of the “4.0 Industry” in the nuclear deconstruction sector. This objective aims to benefit from the lever of efficiency and reliability represented by innovative technologies on all the value chain of the dismantling, from early characterization to the dismantling operations themselves through engineering studies, waste management, project management and coordination of multiple stakeholders of each project. The outcomes of five projects (INNO4GRAPH, LD-SAFE, PLEIADES, CLEANDEM and INSIDER) are summarized here. They result in a unique data and knowledge common base, as well as in a significant sharing of experience based on dismantling projects already carried out or to come. They also result in designing new tools or methods natively taking into account the needs of a maximum of dismantling operators, as well as new test facilities. This will allow the undertaken joint work and collaboration to be continued. All of this paves the way to further collaborative projects and developments, in order to continue to implement reliable new technologies and processes in European dismantling projects to make future dismantling operations more efficient, safer and more cost-effective

L'imaginaire urbain dans les régions ouvrières en reconversion: Le bassin stéphanois et le bassin minier du Nord Pas de Calais

Cette recherche est une recherche sociologique et anthropologique coordonnée par Michel Rautenberg rassemblant le Centre Max Weber de Saint-Étienne, le Centre Lillois d'études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques (sous la responsabilité du professeur Licia Valladarès) et l' Université de Sofia (sous la responsabilité du professeur Ivaylo Ditchev). Démarrée en décembre 2007 elle s'est terminée en avril 2011 et a bénéficié d'une aide de l'ANR de 180 k€ pour un montant global de 250 k€ de subventions publiques (non comprise une allocation de recherche).The general hypothesis at the origin of this research is that urban transformations do not go without social representations and the field of the imagination. It is essential for each image, word or story to be related to concrete situations that the researcher can describe. The choice of cities is thus not negligible. In this research programme, it has focussed on cities which have a had a difficult economic history characterised by brutal de-industrialization - more in people's minds than by its suddenness. This has left a traumatic effect on individual and collective memories, an urban landscape of industrial wasteland and 3 decades later it continues to strongly influence urban renovation policies. The first issue of this research, which in its second phase was extended to include Bulgarian cities thanks to the support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was to establish a method making it possible to describe this imagination. So researchers agreed to work on imagination "operators", that is to say means (administrative, artistic or social) used by socially identified actors : artists, associations, inhabitants, former miners, municipal authorities. The second issue was to favour the imagination of cites which cannot be measured against communication strategies but which considers the "popular" social imagination which is sufficiently autonomous to exist outside municipal institutions - without asserting that it is completely independent. The third issue was to find common features in the comparison between situations close enough in their history to justify a pertinent comparison.L'hypothèse générale à l'origine de cette recherche est que les transformations urbaines ne font pas l'économie des représentations et des imaginaires sociaux. Il est donc nécessaire que chaque image, parole ou récit recueilli soit rapporté à des situations concrètes que le chercheur peut décrire. Le choix des villes n'est alors pas anodin. Dans ce programme de recherche, il s'est porté sur des villes qui ont eu une histoire économique difficile caractérisée par une désindustrialisation brutale -dans les esprits peut-être plus que par sa soudaineté. Celle ci a laissé des traumatismes dans les mémoires individuelles et collectives, un paysage urbain de friches industrielles, et continue après 3 décennies d'influencer fortement sur les politiques de rénovation urbaine

Prognostic Significance of New Immunohistochemical Markers in Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Study of 59 Cases

Although most classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients are cured, a significant minority fail after primary therapy and may die as result of their disease. To date, there is no consensus on biological markers that add value to usual parameters (which comprise the International Prognostic Score) used at diagnosis to predict outcome. We evaluated 59 patients (18 with primary refractory or early relapse disease and 41 responders) for bcl2, Ki67, CD20, TiA1 and c-kit expression by semi-quantitative immunohistochemical study and correlated the results with the response to treatment

TLR9 activation induces normal neutrophil responses in a child with IRAK-4 deficiency: involvement of the direct PI3K pathway.

International audiencePolymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) play a key role in innate immunity. Their activation and survival are tightly regulated by microbial products via pattern recognition receptors such as TLRs, which mediate recruitment of the IL-1R-associated kinase (IRAK) complex. We describe a new inherited IRAK-4 deficiency in a child with recurrent pyogenic bacterial infections. Analysis of the IRAK4 gene showed compound heterozygosity with two mutations: a missense mutation in the death domain of the protein (pArg12Cys) associated in cis-with a predicted benign variant (pArg391His); and a splice site mutation in intron 7 that led to the skipping of exon 7. A nontruncated IRAK-4 protein was detected by Western blotting. The patient's functional deficiency of IRAK-4 protein was confirmed by the absence of IRAK-1 phosphorylation after stimulation with all TLR agonists tested. The patient's PMNs showed strongly impaired responses (L-selectin and CD11b expression, oxidative burst, cytokine production, cell survival) to TLR agonists which engage TLR1/2, TLR2/6, TLR4, and TLR7/8; in contrast, the patient's PMN responses to CpG-DNA (TLR9) were normal, except for cytokine production. The surprisingly normal effect of CpG-DNA on PMN functions and apoptosis disappeared after pretreatment with PI3K inhibitors. Together, these results suggest the existence of an IRAK-4-independent TLR9-induced transduction pathway leading to PI3K activation. This alternative pathway may play a key role in PMN control of infections by microorganisms other than pyogenic bacteria in inherited IRAK-4 deficiency

PLoS One

OBJECTIVE: Different phenotypes of wheezing have been described to date but not in early life. We aim to describe wheezing phenotypes between the ages of two months and one year, and assess risk factors associated with these wheezing phenotypes in a large birth cohort. METHODS: We studied 18,041 infants from the ELFE (French Longitudinal Study of Children) birth cohort. Parents reported wheezing and respiratory symptoms at two and 12 months, and answered a complete questionnaire (exposure during pregnancy, parental allergy). RESULTS: Children with no symptoms (controls) accounted for 77.2%, 2.1% had had wheezing at two months but no wheezing at one year (intermittent), 2.4% had persistent wheezing, while 18.3% had incident wheezing at one year. Comparing persistent wheezing to controls showed that having one sibling (ORa = 2.19) or 2 siblings (ORa = 2.23) compared to none, nocturnal cough (OR = 5.2), respiratory distress (OR = 4.1) and excess bronchial secretions (OR = 3.47) at two months, reflux in the child at 2 months (OR = 1.55), maternal history of asthma (OR = 1.46) and maternal smoking during pregnancy (OR = 1.57) were significantly associated with persistent wheezing. These same factors, along with cutaneous rash in the child at 2 months (OR = 1.13) and paternal history of asthma (OR = 1.32) were significantly associated with increased odds of incident wheezing. Having one sibling (ORa = 1.9) compared to none, nocturnal cough at 2 months (OR = 1.76) and excess bronchial secretions at 2 months (OR = 1.65) were significantly associated with persistent compared to intermittent wheezing. CONCLUSION: Respiratory symptoms (cough, respiratory distress, and excessive bronchial secretion) were significantly associated with a high risk of persistent wheezing at one year. Smoking exposure during pregnancy was also a risk factor for persistent and incident wheezing

Inhibition of BET proteins and epigenetic signaling as a potential treatment for osteoporosis

International audienceHistone modifications are important for maintaining the transcription program. BET proteins, an important class of " histone reading proteins " , have recently been described as essential in bone biology. This study presents the therapeutic opportunity of BET protein inhibition in osteoporosis. We find that the pharmacological BET protein inhibitor JQ1 rescues pathologic bone loss in a post-ovariectomy osteoporosis model by increasing the trabecular bone volume and restoring mechanical properties. The BET protein inhibition suppresses osteoclast differentiation and activity as well as the osteoblastogenesis in vitro. Moreover, we show that treated non-resorbing osteoclasts could still activate osteoblast differentiation. In addition, specific inhibition of BRD4 using RNA interference inhibits osteoclast differentiation but strongly activates osteoblast mineralization activity. Mechanistically, JQ1 inhibits expression of the master osteoclast transcription factor NFATc1 and the transcription factor of osteoblast Runx2. These findings strongly support that targeting epigenetic chromatin regulators such as BET proteins may offer a promising alternative for the treatment of bone-related disorders such as osteoporosis

Filière « Histoire sociale et démographique »

Stéphane Baciocchi et Pascal Cristofoli, ingénieur d’étudesJean Daniel Gronoff, ingénieur de rechercheArnaud Bringé et Bénédicte Garnier, ingénieurs à l’INED Atelier « Analyse des données relationnelles »1. Introduction à l’analyse des données relationnelles En lien avec des équipes et des projets de recherches actifs, encadré par des ingénieurs méthodes en sciences humaines et sociales, l’atelier a pour l’essentiel repris et suivi la trame pédagogique mise en place et expérimentée l’année de..

Filière « Histoire sociale et démographique »

Stéphane Baciocchi et Pascal Cristofoli, ingénieurs d’étudesArnaud Bringé et Bénédicte Garnier, ingénieurs à l’INED Atelier « Analyse des données relationnelles » Pour cette année, les deux composantes de l’atelier (« Introduction à l’analyse des données relationnelles » et « Études de cas ») ont été regroupées de sorte à présenter de manière intégrée et continue l’ensemble des opérations qui règlent la conduite des enquêtes sur les sources et données relationnelles. Nous avons rassemblé, au ..

Clinical profiles of patients colonized or infected with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates: a 20 month retrospective study at a Belgian University Hospital

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Description of the clinical pictures of patients colonized or infected by ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>isolates and admitted to hospital are rather scarce in Europe. However, a better delineation of the clinical patterns associated with the carriage of ESBL-producing isolates may allow healthcare providers to identify more rapidly at risk patients. This matter is of particular concern because of the growing proportion of ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>species isolates worldwide.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We undertook a descriptive analysis of 114 consecutive patients in whom ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>isolates were collected from clinical specimens over a 20-month period. Clinical data were obtained through retrospective analysis of medical record charts. Microbiological cultures were carried out by standard laboratory methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proportion of ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>strains after exclusion of duplicate isolates was 4.5% and the incidence rate was 4.3 cases/1000 patients admitted. Healthcare-associated acquisition was important (n = 104) while community-acquisition was less frequently found (n = 10). Among the former group, two-thirds of the patients were aged over 65 years and 24% of these were living in nursing homes. Sixty-eight (65%) of the patients with healthcare-associated ESBL, were considered clinically infected. In this group, the number and severity of co-morbidities was high, particularly including diabetes mellitus and chronic renal insufficiency. Other known risk factors for ESBL colonization or infection such as prior antibiotic exposure, urinary catheter or previous hospitalisation were also often found. The four main diagnostic categories were: urinary tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, septicaemia and intra-abdominal infections. For hospitalized patients, the median hospital length of stay was 23 days and the average mortality rate during hospitalization was 13% (Confidence Interval 95%: 7-19). <it>Escherichia coli</it>, by far, accounted as the most common ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>species (77/114; [68%]) while CTX-M-1 group was by far the most prevalent ESBL enzyme (n = 56).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this retrospective study, the clinical profiles of patients carrying healthcare-associated ESBL-producing <it>Enterobacteriacae </it>is characterized by a high prevalence rate of several major co-morbidities and potential known risk factors. Both, the length of hospital stay and overall hospital mortality rates were particularly high. A prospective case-control matched study should be designed and performed in order to control for possible inclusion bias.</p