Partition of Omega-like facility into two configurations of 24 and 36 laser beams to improve implosion performance.

An Omega-like beam configuration is considered where the 60-beam layout can be separated into two independent sub-configurations with 24 and 36 laser beams, each minimizing direct drive illumination non-uniformity. Two different laser focal spot profiles, one associated with each configuration, are proposed to apply the zooming technique in order to increase the laser-target coupling efficiency. This approach is used by 1D hydrodynamics simulations of the implosion of a direct-drive capsule characterized by a relatively large aspect ratio A = 7 and an optimized laser pulse shape delivering a maximum of 30 TW and 30 kJ, with different temporal pulse shapes in each of the two sets of beams. It is shown that zooming allows for an optimistic 1D thermonuclear energy gain greater than one while without zooming the thermonuclear gain remains largely below one. While this is incompatible with the as-built Omega laser, it provides a promising option for a future intermediate-energy direct drive laser system.

Riesgo de fotocarcinogénesis asociado a la fototerapia UVB-BE. Estudio epidemiológico de un hospital terciario / Photocarcinogenic Risk Associated With Narrowband UV-B Phototherapy: An Epidemiologic Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital

INTRODUCCIÓN: Actualmente el riesgo de cáncer cutáneo asociado a la fototerapia UVB de banda estrecha no se conoce con precisión. Aunque existe un riesgo demostrado en estudios experimentales los estudios en la práctica clínica no han encontrado un aumento en la frecuencia de neoplasias en los pacientes tratados con esta modalidad de fototerapia. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es determinar la incidencia de fotocarcinogénesis de la fototerapia UVB-BE en un hospital terciario del área mediterránea. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Se ha realizado un estudio observacional retrospectivo selecionando 474 pacientes que habían recibido tratamiento con UVB-BE de cuerpo completo entre 2002 y 2016 realizando un seguimiento en la historia clínica revisando los pacientes que habían sido diagnosticados de CCNM. Se calculó la densidad de incidencia bruta y ajustada y se comparó con la frecuencia en la población normal de un area geográfica similar. RESULTADOS: De los 474 pacientes estudiados, 193 eran hombres (40,7%) y 281 mujeres (59,3%). El tiempo medio de seguimiento fue de 5,8+-3 años. La prevalencia de neoplasias al final del periodo de estudio fue del 1,9% La densidad de incidencia ajustada fue de 108,3 casos / 100.000 pacientes tratados - año. La relación estandarizada de riesgo en comparación con la población general fue de 1,9 sin llegar a ser estadísticamente significativa. El número necesario a tratar para producir un caso de cáncer cutáneo fue de 1.900 pacientes. CONCLUSIÓN: La fototerapia UVB-BE no parece asociarse con un riesgo aumentado de cáncer cutáneo no melanoma en los pacientes tratados con esta modalidad de tratamiento

BACKGROUND: The risk of skin cancer in patients treated with narrowband (NB) UV-B phototherapy is not well understood. Although experimental studies have shown that there is a risk, clinical studies have not detected an increased incidence of cancer following treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in patients treated with NB UV-B phototherapy at a tertiary care hospital in the Mediterranean area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 474 patients who received whole-body NB UV-B phototherapy at our hospital between 2002 and 2016 and identified those diagnosed with NMSC during follow-up. We calculated the corresponding crude and standardized incidence rates and compared these with rates in the general population in a similar geographic area. RESULTS: Of the 474 patients, 193 (40.7%) were men and 281 (59.3%) were women. The mean (SD) follow-up period was 5.8 (3) years. The prevalence of NMSC at the end of the study period was 1.9% and the standardized incidence was 108.3 cases per 100 000 patient-years. The SIR of 1.9 in the study group was not significantly different from that of the general population. The number of patients who needed to be treated with NB UV-B phototherapy for 1 case of NMSC to occur was 1900. CONCLUSION: NB UV-B phototherapy does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of NMSC

Photocarcinogenic Risk Associated With Narrowband UV-B Phototherapy: An Epidemiologic Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital. / Riesgo de fotocarcinogénesis asociado a la fototerapia UVB-BE. Estudio epidemiológico de un hospital terciario.

BACKGROUND: The risk of skin cancer in patients treated with narrowband (NB) UV-B phototherapy is not well understood. Although experimental studies have shown that there is a risk, clinical studies have not detected an increased incidence of cancer following treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in patients treated with NB UV-B phototherapy at a tertiary care hospital in the Mediterranean area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 474 patients who received whole-body NB UV-B phototherapy at our hospital between 2002 and 2016 and identified those diagnosed with NMSC during follow-up. We calculated the corresponding crude and standardized incidence rates and compared these with rates in the general population in a similar geographic area. RESULTS: Of the 474 patients, 193 (40.7%) were men and 281 (59.3%) were women. The mean (SD) follow-up period was 5.8 (3) years. The prevalence of NMSC at the end of the study period was 1.9% and the standardized incidence was 108.3 cases per 100 000 patient-years. The SIR of 1.9 in the study group was not significantly different from that of the general population. The number of patients who needed to be treated with NB UV-B phototherapy for 1 case of NMSC to occur was 1900. CONCLUSION: NB UV-B phototherapy does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of NMSC.

Estudio antropométrico en una población infantil con síndrome de Down / Anthropometric survey on children with Down syndrome

Objetivo. Estudio de los valores antropométricos registrados en las historias clínicas de un grupo representativo de pacientes en edad pediátrica en la Unidad de Síndrome de Down del Servicio de Pediatría del Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, entre los años 2000 y 2014, inclusive. Pacientes y métodos. Estudio observacional descriptivo en una muestra de 140 pacientes de entre 1 y 13 años. La muestra se configuró a partir de los criterios de inclusión y de exclusión. Se extrajeron del informe de la primera visita, los datos relevantes referentes al nacimiento y, de las visitas sucesivas (643 mediciones), el estado del paciente en dicho momento. Resultados. Se estudiaron 103 pacientes con síndrome de Down portadores de trisomía regular, que superaron los criterios de inclusión y exclusión, cuya distribución por sexos corresponde a 59 (57%) niños y 44 (43%) niñas. Posteriormente, se analizaron, obteniendo percentiles. Discusión. Se comparó la mediana con aquella de los percentiles propuestos por la Fundación Catalana Síndrome de Down. Conclusiones. Presentamos un estudio observacional con las mediciones antropométricas de una muestra de pacientes menores con síndrome de Down de la población valenciana. Las medidas han sido inferiores a las de la población general, pero similares a las de los pacientes del estudio de la Fundación Catalana Síndrome de Down. Se reafirma la necesidad de continuar empleando unas tablas percentiladas propias para la población con síndrome de Down, siendo necesaria una revisión periódica de dichas tablas (AU)

Objective. Study of anthropometric values in the medical records of a representative group of paediatric patients with Down Syndrome, from the Down Syndrome Unit of the Paediatric Department of Valencia's Hospital Clínico Universitario, from 2000 to 2014. Patients and methods. Descriptive observational study in a group of 140 patients between 1 and 13 years. The group was configured based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We extracted data about birth from their first visit, and subsequently patient data at the time of each visit (643 measurements). Results. 103 patients with regular trisomy of Down syndrome were recorded and studied. There were 59 (57%) boys and 44 (43%) girls. The records were then analysed and percentiles were calculated. Discussion. The median was compared to that of percentiles from the Catalan Down Syndrome Foundation. Conclusions. We present an observational study with anthropometric measurements of a group of Down syndrome children from Valencia. Measurements were lower than those of the WHO for the general population, but similar to those recorded by the Catalan Down Syndrome Foundation. The need to continue using customised Down Syndrome percentiles is reaffirmed, with periodic review of these tables (AU)

Proposal for the study of thermophysical properties of high-energy-density matter using current and future heavy-ion accelerator facilities at GSI Darmstadt.

The subject of high-energy-density (HED) states in matter is of considerable importance to numerous branches of basic as well as applied physics. Intense heavy-ion beams are an excellent tool to create large samples of HED matter in the laboratory with fairly uniform physical conditions. Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, is a unique worldwide laboratory that has a heavy-ion synchrotron, SIS18, that delivers intense beams of energetic heavy ions. Construction of a much more powerful synchrotron, SIS100, at the future international facility for antiprotons and ion research (FAIR) at Darmstadt will lead to an increase in beam intensity by 3 orders of magnitude compared to what is currently available. The purpose of this Letter is to investigate with the help of two-dimensional numerical simulations, the potential of the FAIR to carry out research in the field of HED states in matter.

The CERN Large Hadron Collider as a tool to study high-energy density matter.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will generate two extremely powerful 7 TeV proton beams. Each beam will consist of 2808 bunches with an intensity per bunch of 1.15x10(11) protons so that the total number of protons in one beam will be about 3x10(14) and the total energy will be 362 MJ. Each bunch will have a duration of 0.5 ns and two successive bunches will be separated by 25 ns, while the power distribution in the radial direction will be Gaussian with a standard deviation, sigma=0.2 mm. The total duration of the beam will be about 89 mus. Using a 2D hydrodynamic code, we have carried out numerical simulations of the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic response of a solid copper target that is irradiated with one of the LHC beams. These calculations show that only the first few hundred proton bunches will deposit a high specific energy of 400 kJ/g that will induce exotic states of high energy density in matter.

Generation of a hollow ion beam: calculation of the rotation frequency required to accommodate symmetry constraint.

A hollow intense heavy ion beam with an annular focal spot has many important applications. The Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt is planning to develop a radio frequency wobbler that will rotate the beam at extremely high frequencies and thus create an annular (ring shaped) focal spot. In this paper, we present an analytical model that determines the minimum rotation frequency of the wobbler in order to achieve a high degree of irradiation symmetry (an asymmetry of a few percent) of the target. Estimates for a typical heavy ion imploded target are also presented.

Use of low-density foams as pressure amplifiers in equation-of-state experiments with laser-driven shock waves.

The applicability of foams to equation of state experiments with laser-produced shocks has been studied. The pressure increase due to impedance mismatch at the payload-foam interface was measured experimentally using sub-ns laser pulses smoothed with phase zone plates. Foams of density in the range 5-900 mg/cm(3) and of thicknesses of 50-150 microm were used. A model has been developed to study pressure amplification and the conditions under which the shock is stationary. Two-step two-material targets, allowing simultaneous measurements of the shock velocities in the two materials, were then used to obtain relative equation of state data. Pressures higher than 100 Mbar were achieved in gold.

[Influence of age on the morbidity and mortality in coronary artery surgery]. / Influência da idade na morbidade e mortalidade da cirurgia arterial coronária.

To study the effects of age on the results of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), 250 patients operated on from 1986 to 1989 were divided into two groups: 1) less than 65 years of age and 2) older than 65. Pre, intra and postoperative data collected in all patients included: sex, type and class of angina, associated diseases, previous myocardial infarction, previous CABG, left ventricular aneurysm, bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, number of grafts per patient, need for prolonged inotropic support, postoperative complications, and mortality. A large number of elderly patients had unstable angina (20.3% vs 6.2%), post-infarction angina (10.1% vs 7.8%), angina at rest (10.1% vs 3.6%), peripheral vascular disease (8.4% vs 2.6%), required prolonged inotropic support (18.6% vs 3.1%), had major neurological complications (8.4% vs 0.1%) and perioperative myocardial infarction (5.0% vs 0.5%). Overall mortality was 3.6% but mortality rates were significantly higher in elderly patients (11.8% vs 1.0%). These data suggest that elderly patients have an increased risk of cardiac and neurologic morbidity and mortality. It appear that the increased morbidity and mortality is related to an increased susceptibility of the elderly to serious postoperative complications.