Review of current Severe Accident Management (SAM) approaches for Nuclear Power Plants in Europe

The Fukushima accidents highlighted that both the in-depth understanding of such sequences and the development or improvement of adequate Severe Accident Management (SAM) measures are essential in order to further increase the safety of the nuclear power plants operated in Europe. To support this effort, the CESAM (Code for European Severe Accident Management) R&D project, coordinated by GRS, started in April 2013 for 4 years in the 7th EC Framework Programme of research and development of the European Commission. It gathers 18 partners from 12 countries: IRSN, AREVA NP SAS and EDF (France), GRS, KIT, USTUTT and RUB (Germany), CIEMAT (Spain), ENEA (Italy), VUJE and IVS (Slovakia), LEI (Lithuania), NUBIKI (Hungary), INRNE (Bulgaria), JSI (Slovenia), VTT (Finland), PSI (Switzerland), BARC (India) plus the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC). The CESAM project focuses on the improvement of the ASTEC (Accident Source Term Evaluation Code) computer code. ASTEC,, jointly developed by IRSN and GRS, is considered as the European reference code since it capitalizes knowledge from the European R&D on the domain. The project aims at its enhancement and extension for use in severe accident management (SAM) analysis of the nuclear power plants (NPP) of Generation II-III presently under operation or foreseen in near future in Europe, spent fuel pools included. In the frame of the CESAM project one of the tasks consisted in the preparation of a report providing an overview of the Severe Accident Management (SAM) approaches in European Nuclear Power Plants to serve as a basis for further ASTEC improvements. This report draws on the experience in several countries from introducing SAMGs and on substantial information that has become available within the EU “stress test”. To disseminate this information to a broader audience, the initial CESAM report has been revised to include only public available information. This work has been done with the agreement and in collaboration with all the CESAM project partners. The result of this work is presented here.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Redução da dor em mulheres com osteoporose submetidas a um programa de atividade física

Este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a dor e o consumo de analgésicos em mulheres com osteoporose, após a realização de um programa de atividade física. Participaram do estudo 15 mulheres com média de idade 59±7,6 anos, com diagnóstico densitométrico em L2-L4 de osteoporose e que haviam feito uso de analgésicos para dorsalgia pelo menos três vezes por semana no mês precedente à avaliação inicial. A dor foi avaliada por questões extraídas do Osteoporosis Assessment Questionnaire, aplicadas antes e após um programa de atividade física; o escore variou de 0 (melhor, sem dor) a 10 (pior, dor diária). O programa, que consistiu em caminhadas, exercícios livres de membros superiores e inferiores e relaxamento, foi realizado duas vezes por semana durante 28 semanas consecutivas. Os dados foram tratados estatisticamente. Comparando-se as pontuações obtidas, a dor apresentou uma diminuição significativa entre a avaliação inicial (7,33±3,05) e final (4,17±2,61, p=0,0007). Observou-se também uma redução no consumo de analgésicos. Esses resultados sugerem que o programa de atividade física foi efetivo para a diminuição da dor, contribuindo para a melhora da qualidade de vida das mulheres com osteoporose.This paper aimed at evaluating the effect of a physical activity program onto the level of pain as perceived by women with osteoporosis. Fifteen women (mean age 59±7.6 years old) with bone-densitometry diagnosis of lumbar osteoporosis took part in the study; they all took analgesics at least thrice a week in the month prior to the study. Pain was assessed by questions extracted from the Osteoporosis Assessment Questionnaire both before and after the program; scores ranged from 0 (no pain) to 10 (pain everyday). The program consisted of walking, lower and upper limb free exercises, massage, and relaxation, twice a week, during 28 weeks. Data were statistically analysed. A significant decrease in pain was found after the program (from 7.33±3.05 to 4.17±2.61, p=0,0007), and a lesser use of analgesics was reported. These results suggest that the program of physical activity brought pain relief, thus contributing to improve quality of life of women with osteoporosis

DEPENDENCY OF REARFOOT PRONATION ON PHYSICAL STRAIN DURING RUNNING

lNTRODUCTlON Acute and chronic injuries of runners are still a central topic in the field of Sports Medicine. The cause for acute running injuries is relatively easy to determine but the search for reasons regarding running-related chronic sports injuries as runner's knee, shin splint or achillodynia are by far more difficult. Training parameters, as extent and ground, and anatomical conditions as foot mafformations as well are functional criteria which should be taken into consideration when determing the reason for running injuries. Especially the interaction of the foot with the surface is regarded to be the main cause for developing injuries (REUTER 1987). The normal pronation has a significant importance with regard to the correct function of the foot (HENNIG 1994, JAMESIBATESIOSTERNIG 1978) but the excessive pronation, the so-called overpronation- is considered to be a frequent cause for complaints on one's foot. lower leg and knee (KliLIN et al. 1988, REUTER 1987). In order to quantify the degree of the pronation different methods are employed to record different parameters. One important parameter is the angle of the Achilles tendon which is measured as the angle between the lower leg and the heel-bone. Results from gait analyses and examinations with different running speeds exist in order to describe the effect on the angle of the Achilles tendon (MANNIHAGY 1980, NlGG 1986). MATERIALS AND METHODS In 20 volunteers the correlation between rearfoot pronation and increasing physical strain during treadmill ergometry was examined. In order to assess the influence of regularly performed running training a group of 10 endurance trained middle- and long-distance runners (age: 7.4 + 4.9 years; weight: 71.0 + 8.8 kg; height: 184.2 + 8.3 cm) was compared to another group of 10 untrained persons (age: 24.7 t 2.1 years; weight: 73.3 + 9.8 kg; height: 179.1 f 8.3 cm). The examinations were carried out on a treadmill using a high-frequency motion analyzing system. Heart rate, blood lactate as well as rearfoot pronation were measured. RESULTS Regarding heart rate and lactate concentration there were significant differences between trained and untrained volunteers. The pronation angle increased with raising speed up to a maximum of 6.54 + 4.22" for the trained group and 6.84 + 4.59" for the untrained group. With reference to maximal as well as to submaximal stages the pronation angles showed no significant differences between both groups. After the maximal step the runners performed an additional 3-min run with a velocity reduced by 8 kmlh compared to the maximal speed. On this stage the total group as well as the untrained group showed significantly greater pronation angles compared to those of the corresponding velocity at the beginning of the test. The extent of the differences, however, was not significantly correlated with the lactate levels. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrate that the increase of the pronation angle is a function of the running speed. But there is also an influence of fatigue, which depends neither on the running velocity nor on the lactate levels during exercise. Therefore, further investigations should lay emphasis upon the question which factors are responsible for this effect

Peripheres Muskelkrafttraining bei schwerer Herzinsuffizienz

Item does not contain fulltextKatholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 8 juni 2000Promotor : Veth, R.P.H. Co-promotores : Waal Malefijt, M.C. de, Buma, P., Verdonschot, N.J.J.151 p

The Slippery Path to Total Presence: How Omnidirectional Virtual Reality Treadmills Influence the Gaming Experience

Researchers, game designers, and consumers place great hopes into the potential benefits of virtual reality (VR) technology on the user experience in digital games. Indeed, initial empirical research has shown that VR technology can improve the gaming experience in a number of ways compared to traditional desktop gaming, for instance by amplifying immersion and flow. However, on the downside, a mismatch between physical locomotion and the movements of the avatar in the virtual world can also lead to unpleasant feelings when using VR technology—often referred to as cybersickness. One solution to this problem may be the implementation of novel passive repositioning systems (also called omnidirectional treadmills) that are designed to allow a continuous, more natural form of locomotion in VR. In the current study, we investigate how VR technology and the use of an omnidirectional treadmill influence the gaming experience. Traditional desktop gaming, VR gaming, and omnidirectional treadmill gaming are compared in a one-factorial experimental design (N = 203). As expected, we found that VR gaming on the one hand leads to higher levels of flow, presence, and enjoyment, but at the same time also is accompanied by higher levels of cybersickness than traditional desktop gaming. The use of the omnidirectional treadmill did not significantly improve the gaming experience and also did not reduce cybersickness. However, this more physically demanding form of locomotion may make omnidirectional treadmills interesting for exergame designers

A Computational Approach to Analyzing the Twitter Debate on Gaming Disorder

The recognition of excessive forms of media entertainment use (such as uncontrolled video gaming or the use of social networking sites) as a disorder is a topic widely discussed among scientists and therapists, but also among politicians, journalists, users, and the industry. In 2018, when the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to include the addictive use of digital games (gaming disorder) as a diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases, the debate reached a new peak. In the current article, we aim to provide insights into the public debate on gaming disorder by examining data from Twitter for 11 months prior to and 8 months after the WHO decision, analyzing the (change in) topics, actors, and sentiment over time. Automated content analysis revealed that the debate is organic and not driven by spam accounts or other overly active ‘power users.’ The WHO announcement had a major impact on the debate, moving it away from the topics of parenting and child welfare, largely by activating actors from gaming culture. The WHO decision also resulted in a major backlash, increasing negative sentiments within the debate