Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

RF Tuning of the LINAC4 RFQ

The construction of Linac4, the new 160 MeV CERN H^{−} injector, has started with the goal of improving the LHC injection chain with a new higher energy linac. The low energy front end of Linac4 is based on a 352 MHz, 3-m long Radiofrequency Quadrupole (RFQ) which accelerates the 70 mA, 45 keV H^{−} beam from the ion source to the energy of 3 MeV. The RFQ, made of three modules, one meter each, is of the four-vane type and it has been designed in collaboration between CERN and CEA. Construction has started in 2009 and all the steps of machining and assembly have been done at CERN. The RFQ is equipped with 35 fixed tuners and one waveguide RF port located in the second module. This paper describes the procedure used to tune the accelerating field and the power coupler of the LINAC4 RFQ in order to achieve the nominal voltage profile within ±1% accuracy

ESS RFQ: Installation and Tuning at Lund

International audienceThe 352 MHz Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) for the European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) has been delivered by the end of 2019. It has been provided by CEA, IRFU, Saclay/France. It consists of five sections with a total length of 4.6 m and accelerates the 70 mA proton beam from 75 keV up to 3.6 MeV. It will be fed with 900 kW peak power through two coaxial loop couplers. The installation process (alignment, vacuum test), as well as the tuning process based on bead-pull measurements, is presented in this paper

Status of the GBAR control project at CERN

International audienceOne yet unanswered questions in physics today concerns the action of gravity upon antimatter. The GBAR experiment proposes to measure the free fall acceleration of neutral antihydrogen atoms. Installation of the project at CERN (ELENA) began in late 2016. This research project is facing new challenges and needs flexibility with hardware and software. EPICS modularity and distributed architecture has been tested for control system and for providing flexibility for future installation improvement. This paper describes the development of the software and the set of software tools that are being used on the project

ESS RFQ: Construction Status and Power Couplers Qualification

International audienceThe 352 MHz Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) for the European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) will be de-livered during 2019. It is provided by CEA, IRFU, Sac-lay/France. It consists of five sections with a total length of 4.6 m and accelerates the proton beam from 75 keV up to 3.6 MeV. It will be feed with 1.6 MW peak power through two coaxial loop couplers. This paper will present the manufacturing status of the five sections and the qualification test of the RF power couplers