Analysis of Fission Products on the AGR-1 Capsule Components

The components of the AGR-1 irradiation capsules were analyzed to determine the retained inventory of fission products in order to determine the extent of in-pile fission product release from the fuel compacts. This includes analysis of (i) the metal capsule components, (ii) the graphite fuel holders, (iii) the graphite spacers, and (iv) the gas exit lines. The fission products most prevalent in the components were Ag-110m, Cs 134, Cs 137, Eu-154, and Sr 90, and the most common location was the metal capsule components and the graphite fuel holders. Gamma scanning of the graphite fuel holders was also performed to determine spatial distribution of Ag-110m and radiocesium. Silver was released from the fuel components in significant fractions. The total Ag-110m inventory found in the capsules ranged from 1.2×10 2 (Capsule 3) to 3.8×10 1 (Capsule 6). Ag-110m was not distributed evenly in the graphite fuel holders, but tended to concentrate at the axial ends of the graphite holders in Capsules 1 and 6 (located at the top and bottom of the test train) and near the axial center in Capsules 2, 3, and 5 (in the center of the test train). The Ag-110m further tended to be concentrated around fuel stacks 1 and 3, the two stacks facing the ATR reactor core and location of higher burnup, neutron fluence, and temperatures compared with Stack 2. Detailed correlation of silver release with fuel type and irradiation temperatures is problematic at the capsule level due to the large range of temperatures experienced by individual fuel compacts in each capsule. A comprehensive Ag 110m mass balance for the capsules was performed using measured inventories of individual compacts and the inventory on the capsule components. For most capsules, the mass balance was within 11% of the predicted inventory. The Ag-110m release from individual compacts often exhibited a very large range within a particular capsule

Concrete Shield Performance of the VSC-17 Spent Nuclear Fuel Cask

In 2003, representatives from the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) requested development of a project with the objective of determining the performance of a concrete spent nuclear fuel storage cask. Radiation and environmental effects may cause chemical alteration of the concrete that could result in excessive cracking, spalling, and loss of compressive strength. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) project team and CRIEPI representatives identified the Ventilated Storage Cask (VSC-17) spent nuclear fuel storage cask as a candidate to study cask performance, because it had been used to store fuel as part of a dry cask storage demonstration project for more than 15 years. The project involved investigating the properties of the concrete shield. INL performed a survey of the cask in the summers of 2003 and 2004. Preliminary cask evaluations performed in 2003 indicated that the cask has no visual degradation. However, a 4-5 mrem/hr step-change in the radiation levels about halfway up the cask and a localized hot spot beneath an upper air vent indicate that there may be variability in the density of the concrete or localized cracking. In 2005, INL and CRIEPI scientists performed additional surveys on the VSC-17 cask. This document summarizes the methods used on the VSC-17 to evaluate the cask for compressive strength, concrete cracking, concrete thickness, and temperature distribution

Research on Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation in CRIEPI (Part 2 Concrete Cask Storage)

Concrete cask storage has been implemented in the world. At a later stage of storage period, the containment of the canister may deteriorate due to stress corrosion cracking phenomena in a salty air environment. High resistant stainless steels against SCC have been tested as compared with normal stainless steel. Taking account of the limited time-length of environment with certain level of humidity and temperature range, the high resistant stainless steels will survive from SCC damage. In addition, the adhesion of salt from salty environment on the canister surface will be further limited with respect to the canister temperature and angle of the canister surface against the salty air flow in the concrete cask. Optional countermeasure against SCC with respect to salty air environment has been studied. Devices consisting of various water trays to trap salty particles from the salty air were designed to be attached at the air inlet for natural cooling of the cask storage building. Efficiency for trapping salty particles was evaluated. Inspection of canister surface was carried out using an optical camera inserted from the air outlet through the annulus of a concrete cask that has stored real spent fuel for more than 15 years. The camera image revealed no gross degradation on the surface of the canister. Seismic response of a full-scale concrete cask with simulated spent fuel assemblies has been demonstrated. The cask did not tip over, but laterally moved by the earthquake motion. Stress generated on the surface of the spent fuel assemblies during the earthquake motion were within the elastic region

Slow light for deep tissue imaging with ultrasound modulation

Slow light has been extensively studied for applications ranging from optical delay lines to single photon quantum storage. Here, we show that the time delay of slow-light significantly improves the performance of the narrowband spectral filters needed to optically detect ultrasound from deep inside highly scatteringtissue. We demonstrate this capability with a 9 cm thick tissue phantom, having 10 cm^(−1) reduced scattering coefficient, and achieve an unprecedented background-free signal. Based on the data, we project real time imaging at video rates in even thicker phantoms and possibly deep enough into real tissue for clinical applications like early cancer detection

Morphine for treatment of cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PACIFY COUGH):a prospective, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fibrotic lung disease, with most patients reporting cough. Currently, there are no proven treatments. We examined the use of low dose controlled-release morphine compared with placebo as an antitussive therapy in individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: The PACIFY COUGH study is a phase 2, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial done in three specialist centres in the UK. Eligible patients aged 40–90 years had a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis within 5 years, self-reported cough (lasting &gt;8 weeks), and a cough visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 30 mm or higher. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to placebo twice daily or controlled-release morphine 5 mg orally twice daily for 14 days followed by crossover after a 7-day washout period. Patients were randomised sequentially to a sequence group defining the order in which morphine and placebo were to be given, according to a computer-generated schedule. Patients, investigators, study nurses, and pharmacy personnel were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was percentage change in objective awake cough frequency (coughs per h) from baseline as assessed by objective digital cough monitoring at day 14 of treatment in the intention-to-treat population, which included all randomised participants. Safety data were summarised for all patients who took at least one study drug and did not withdraw consent. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04429516, and has been completed. Findings: Between Dec 17, 2020, and March 21, 2023, 47 participants were assessed for eligibility and 44 were enrolled and randomly allocated to treatment. Mean age was 71 (SD 7·4) years, and 31 (70%) of 44 participants were male and 13 (30%) were female. Lung function was moderately impaired; mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 2·7 L (SD 0·76), mean predicted FVC was 82% (17·3), and mean predicted diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide was 48% (10·9). Of the 44 patients who were randomised, 43 completed morphine treatment and 41 completed placebo treatment. In the intention-to-treat analysis, morphine reduced objective awake cough frequency by 39·4% (95% CI –54·4 to –19·4; p=0·0005) compared with placebo. Mean daytime cough frequency reduced from 21·6 (SE 1·2) coughs per h at baseline to 12·8 (1·2) coughs per h with morphine, whereas cough rates did not change with placebo (21·5 [SE 1·2] coughs per h to 20·6 [1·2] coughs per h). Overall treatment adherence was 98% in the morphine group and 98% in the placebo group. Adverse events were observed in 17 (40%) of 43 participants in the morphine group and six (14%) of 42 patients in the placebo group. The main side-effects of morphine were nausea (six [14%] of 43 participants) and constipation (nine [21%] of 43). One serious adverse event (death) occurred in the placebo group. Interpretation: In patients with cough related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, low dose controlled-release morphine significantly reduced objective cough counts over 14 days compared with placebo. Morphine shows promise as an effective treatment to palliate cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and longer term studies should be the focus of future research. Funding: The Jon Moulton Charity Trust.</p

Morphine for treatment of cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PACIFY COUGH): a prospective, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fibrotic lung disease, with most patients reporting cough. Currently, there are no proven treatments. We examined the use of low dose controlled-release morphine compared with placebo as an antitussive therapy in individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The PACIFY COUGH study is a phase 2, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial done in three specialist centres in the UK. Eligible patients aged 40-90 years had a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis within 5 years, self-reported cough (lasting &gt;8 weeks), and a cough visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 30 mm or higher. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to placebo twice daily or controlled-release morphine 5 mg orally twice daily for 14 days followed by crossover after a 7-day washout period. Patients were randomised sequentially to a sequence group defining the order in which morphine and placebo were to be given, according to a computer-generated schedule. Patients, investigators, study nurses, and pharmacy personnel were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was percentage change in objective awake cough frequency (coughs per h) from baseline as assessed by objective digital cough monitoring at day 14 of treatment in the intention-to-treat population, which included all randomised participants. Safety data were summarised for all patients who took at least one study drug and did not withdraw consent. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04429516, and has been completed. Between Dec 17, 2020, and March 21, 2023, 47 participants were assessed for eligibility and 44 were enrolled and randomly allocated to treatment. Mean age was 71 (SD 7·4) years, and 31 (70%) of 44 participants were male and 13 (30%) were female. Lung function was moderately impaired; mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 2·7 L (SD 0·76), mean predicted FVC was 82% (17·3), and mean predicted diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide was 48% (10·9). Of the 44 patients who were randomised, 43 completed morphine treatment and 41 completed placebo treatment. In the intention-to-treat analysis, morphine reduced objective awake cough frequency by 39·4% (95% CI -54·4 to -19·4; p=0·0005) compared with placebo. Mean daytime cough frequency reduced from 21·6 (SE 1·2) coughs per h at baseline to 12·8 (1·2) coughs per h with morphine, whereas cough rates did not change with placebo (21·5 [SE 1·2] coughs per h to 20·6 [1·2] coughs per h). Overall treatment adherence was 98% in the morphine group and 98% in the placebo group. Adverse events were observed in 17 (40%) of 43 participants in the morphine group and six (14%) of 42 patients in the placebo group. The main side-effects of morphine were nausea (six [14%] of 43 participants) and constipation (nine [21%] of 43). One serious adverse event (death) occurred in the placebo group. In patients with cough related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, low dose controlled-release morphine significantly reduced objective cough counts over 14 days compared with placebo. Morphine shows promise as an effective treatment to palliate cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and longer term studies should be the focus of future research. The Jon Moulton Charity Trust. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Morphine for treatment of cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PACIFY COUGH):a prospective, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fibrotic lung disease, with most patients reporting cough. Currently, there are no proven treatments. We examined the use of low dose controlled-release morphine compared with placebo as an antitussive therapy in individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: The PACIFY COUGH study is a phase 2, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover trial done in three specialist centres in the UK. Eligible patients aged 40–90 years had a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis within 5 years, self-reported cough (lasting &gt;8 weeks), and a cough visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 30 mm or higher. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to placebo twice daily or controlled-release morphine 5 mg orally twice daily for 14 days followed by crossover after a 7-day washout period. Patients were randomised sequentially to a sequence group defining the order in which morphine and placebo were to be given, according to a computer-generated schedule. Patients, investigators, study nurses, and pharmacy personnel were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was percentage change in objective awake cough frequency (coughs per h) from baseline as assessed by objective digital cough monitoring at day 14 of treatment in the intention-to-treat population, which included all randomised participants. Safety data were summarised for all patients who took at least one study drug and did not withdraw consent. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04429516, and has been completed. Findings: Between Dec 17, 2020, and March 21, 2023, 47 participants were assessed for eligibility and 44 were enrolled and randomly allocated to treatment. Mean age was 71 (SD 7·4) years, and 31 (70%) of 44 participants were male and 13 (30%) were female. Lung function was moderately impaired; mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 2·7 L (SD 0·76), mean predicted FVC was 82% (17·3), and mean predicted diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide was 48% (10·9). Of the 44 patients who were randomised, 43 completed morphine treatment and 41 completed placebo treatment. In the intention-to-treat analysis, morphine reduced objective awake cough frequency by 39·4% (95% CI –54·4 to –19·4; p=0·0005) compared with placebo. Mean daytime cough frequency reduced from 21·6 (SE 1·2) coughs per h at baseline to 12·8 (1·2) coughs per h with morphine, whereas cough rates did not change with placebo (21·5 [SE 1·2] coughs per h to 20·6 [1·2] coughs per h). Overall treatment adherence was 98% in the morphine group and 98% in the placebo group. Adverse events were observed in 17 (40%) of 43 participants in the morphine group and six (14%) of 42 patients in the placebo group. The main side-effects of morphine were nausea (six [14%] of 43 participants) and constipation (nine [21%] of 43). One serious adverse event (death) occurred in the placebo group. Interpretation: In patients with cough related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, low dose controlled-release morphine significantly reduced objective cough counts over 14 days compared with placebo. Morphine shows promise as an effective treatment to palliate cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and longer term studies should be the focus of future research. Funding: The Jon Moulton Charity Trust.</p

Estimated Maternal Pesticide Exposure from Drinking Water and Heart Defects in Offspring

Our objective was to examine the relationship between estimated maternal exposure to pesticides in public drinking water and the risk of congenital heart defects (CHD). We used mixed-effects logistic regression to analyze data from 18,291 nonsyndromic cases with heart defects from the Texas Birth Defects Registry and 4414 randomly-selected controls delivered in Texas from 1999 through 2005. Water district-level pesticide exposure was estimated by linking each maternal residential address to the corresponding public water supply district’s measured atrazine levels. We repeated analyses among independent subjects from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) (1620 nonsyndromic cases with heart defects and 1335 controls delivered from 1999 through 2005). No positive associations were observed between high versus low atrazine level and eight CHD subtypes or all included heart defects combined. These findings should be interpreted with caution, in light of potential misclassification and relatively large proportions of subjects with missing atrazine data. Thus, more consistent and complete monitoring and reporting of drinking water contaminants will aid in better understanding the relationships between pesticide water contaminants and birth defects

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Nanopore native RNA sequencing of a human poly(A) transcriptome

High-throughput complementary DNA sequencing technologies have advanced our understanding of transcriptome complexity and regulation. However, these methods lose information contained in biological RNA because the copied reads are often short and modifications are not retained. We address these limitations using a native poly(A) RNA sequencing strategy developed by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Our study generated 9.9 million aligned sequence reads for the human cell line GM12878, using thirty MinION flow cells at six institutions. These native RNA reads had a median length of 771 bases, and a maximum aligned length of over 21,000 bases. Mitochondrial poly(A) reads provided an internal measure of read-length quality. We combined these long nanopore reads with higher accuracy short-reads and annotated GM12878 promoter regions to identify 33,984 plausible RNA isoforms. We describe strategies for assessing 3′ poly(A) tail length, base modifications and transcript haplotypes