The Phylogeography of Rabies in Grenada, West Indies, and Implications for Control

In Grenada, West Indies, rabies is endemic, and is thought to be maintained in a wildlife host, the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) with occasional spillover into other hosts. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to improve understanding of rabies epidemiology in Grenada and to inform rabies control policy. Mongooses were trapped island-wide between April 2011 and March 2013 and examined for the presence of Rabies virus (RABV) antigen using the direct fluorescent antibody test (dFAT) and PCR, and for serum neutralizing antibodies (SNA) using the fluorescent antibody virus neutralization test (FAVN). An additional cohort of brain samples from clinical rabies suspects submitted between April 2011 and March 2014 were also investigated for the presence of virus. Two of the 171 (1.7%) live-trapped mongooses were RABV positive by FAT and PCR, and 20 (11.7%) had SNAs. Rabies was diagnosed in 31 of the submitted animals with suspicious clinical signs: 16 mongooses, 12 dogs, 2 cats and 1 goat. Our investigation has revealed that rabies infection spread from the northeast to the southwest of Grenada within the study period. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the viruses from Grenada formed a monophyletic clade within the cosmopolitan lineage with a common ancestor predicted to have occurred recently (6–23 years ago), and are distinct from those found in Cuba and Puerto Rico, where mongoose rabies is also endemic. These data suggest that it is likely that this specific strain of RABV was imported from European regions rather than the Americas. These data contribute essential information for any potential rabies control program in Grenada and demonstrate the importance of a sound evidence base for planning interventions

Protected air-cooled condenser for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant

The long term residual heat removal for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) is accomplished through the use of three protected air-cooled condensers (PACC's) each rated at 15M/sub t/ following a normal or emergency shutdown of the reactor. Steam is condensed by forcing air over the finned and coiled condenser tubes located above the steam drums. The steam flow is by natural convection. It is drawn to the PACC tube bundle for the steam drum by the lower pressure region in the tube bundle created from the condensing action. The concept of the tube bundle employs a unique patented configuration which has been commercially available through CONSECO Inc. of Medfore, Wisconsin. The concept provides semi-parallel flow that minimizes subcooling and reduces steam/condensate flow instabilities that have been observed on other similar heat transfer equipment such as moisture separator reheaters (MSRS). The improved flow stability will reduce temperature cycling and associated mechanical fatigue. The PACC is being designed to operate during and following the design basis earthquake, depressurization from the design basis tornado and is housed in protective building enclosure which is also designed to withstand the above mentioned events

Spatialized Vibrotactile Feedback Improves Goal-Directed Movements in Cluttered Virtual Environments

International audienceSpatial awareness in virtual reality (VR) is a dominant research topic. It plays an essential role in the assessment of human operators' behavior in simulated tasks, notably for the evaluation of the feasibility of manual maintenance tasks in cluttered industrial settings. In such contexts, it is decisive to evaluate the spatial and temporal correspondence between the operator's movement kinematics and that of his/her virtual avatar in the virtual environment (VE). Often, in a cluttered VE, direct kinesthetic (force) feedback is limited or absent. We tested whether vibrotactile (cutaneous) feedback would increase visuo-proprioceptive consistency, spatial awareness, and thus the validity of VR studies, by augmenting the perception of the operator's contact(s) with virtual objects. We present experimental results obtained using a head-mounted display (HMD) during a goal-directed task in a cluttered VE. Results suggest the contribution of spatialized vibrotactile feedback to visuo-proprioceptive consistency

Spatialized Vibrotactile Feedback Contributes to Goal-Directed Movements in Cluttered Virtual Environments

12th IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI), Los Angeles, CA, MAR 18-19, 2017International audienceIn virtual reality (VR), spatial awareness is a dominant research topic. It plays an essential role in the assessment of human operators' behavior within virtual environments (VE), notably for the evaluation of the feasibility of manual maintenance tasks in cluttered industrial settings. In such contexts, it is decisive to evaluate the spatial and temporal correspondence between the operator's movement kinematics and that of his/her virtual avatar in the virtual environment. Often, in a cluttered VE, direct kinesthetic (force) feedback is limited or absent. We tested whether vibrotactile (cutaneous) feedback would increase visuo-proprioceptive consistency, spatial awareness, and thus the validity of VR studies, by augmenting the perception of the operator's contact(s) with virtual objects. We present preliminary experimental results, obtained using a head-mounted display (HMD) during a goal-directed task in a cluttered VE. Data suggest that spatialized vibrotactile feedback contributes to visuo-proprioceptive consistency

Operators' accessibility studies for assembly and maintenance scenarios using virtual reality

29th Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT), Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC, SEP 05-09, 2016International audienceThe development of fusion plants is more and more challenging. Compared to previous fusion experimental devices, integration constraints, maintenance and safety requirements are key parameters in the ITER project. Components are designed in parallel and we must consider integration, assembly and maintenance issues, which might have a huge impact on the overall design. That also implies to consider the operator's feedback to assess the feasibility of accessibility or maintenance processes. Virtual reality (VR) provides tools to optimize such integration. In 2010, the CEA IRFM decided to upgrade its design tools, by using VR during the life cycle (from design to operations) of a fusion component. The VR platform is intensively used in the design and assembly studies of WEST components. In particular, feasibility of the assembly scenario is assessed by the operators involving in the real assembly work. To study this aspect, the use of static manikins is quite frequent in the industry. However, more complex studies, like the feasibility of assembly and maintenance tasks in complex and very confined environments, require enhanced features such as dynamic and biomechanically realistic virtual humans. We also study the contribution of tactile feedback to improve physical presence and interaction in the virtual environment (VE), which is very important for the validation of a given task's feasibility and the ergonomic evaluation of the posture and gesture of the operator. In particular, we show that adapted behavior in respect to physical elements of the VE can be obtained using a dynamic co-localized representation of the subject's body and a pseudo-haptic tactile feedback. In this paper, we present integration studies involving operators and recent advances in the assessment of maintenance feasibility. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

CRBRP decay heat removal systems

The Decay Heat Removal Systems for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) are designed to adequately remove sensible and decay heat from the reactor following normal shutdown, operational occurrences, and postulated accidents on both a short term and a long term basis. The Decay Heat Removal Systems are composed of the Main Heat Transport System, the Main Condenser and Feedwater System, the Steam Generator Auxiliary Heat Removal System (SGAHRS), and the Direct Heat Removal Service (DHRS). The overall design of the CRBRP Decay Heat Removal Systems and the operation under normal and off-normal conditions is examined. The redundancies of the system design, such as the four decay heat removal paths, the emergency diesel power supplies, and the auxiliary feedwater pumps, and the diversities of the design such as forced circulation/natural circulation and AC Power/DC Power are presented. In addition to overall design and system capabilities, the detailed designs for the Protected Air Cooled Condensers (PACC) and the Air Blast Heat Exchangers (ABHX) are presented

The carbon footprint of cataract surgery in a French University Hospital.

To assess the carbon footprint of cataract surgery in a French university hospital. Operating room of Cochin University Hospital, Paris, France. Single-center component analysis. One day of surgery was used as a reference. Greenhouse gases (GHG) related to patient and staff transportation were calculated based on the distance travelled and the means of transportation used. The annual consumption of energy (heating and electricity) of our building was converted in kg equivalent of carbon dioxide (CO <sub>2</sub> eq), and the principle of proportionality was used to calculate what was used for a single cataract procedure. GHG emissions related to the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the equipment used and the sterilization process were calculated. The LCA of disposable items accounted for 59.49kg (73.32%) of CO <sub>2</sub> eq for each procedure. A single procedure generated 2.83±0.10kg of waste. The average CO <sub>2</sub> eq produced by the transportation of the patients to and from our center, adjusted for one procedure, was 7.26±6.90kg (8.95%) of CO <sub>2</sub> eq. The CO <sub>2</sub> eq produced by the sterilization of the phacoemulsifier handpiece was 2.12kg (2.61%). The energy consumption of the building and staff transportation accounted for the remaining CO <sub>2</sub> eq emissions, 0.76kg (0.93%) and 0.08kg (0.10%) respectively. Altogether, the carbon footprint of one cataract procedure in our center was 81.13kg CO <sub>2</sub> eq - the equivalent of an average car driving 800km. Our data provide a basis to quantify cataract surgery as a source of GHG and suggests that reductions in emissions can be achieved

Development of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen thrust chamber for the M-1 engine

Design and performance of liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen thrust chamber for M-1 engin