Assessment of ITER radiation environment during the remote-handling operation of In-Vessel components with D1SUNED.

During ITER operational life, a remote-handled cask will be used to transfer In-Vessel components to the Hot Cell for maintenance, storage and decommissioning purposes. Due to the distribution of penetrations for system allocation in the facility, the radiation field of each transfer operation presents a high spatial variability; all operations must be studied independently for workers and electronics protection. In this paper, we present a fully representative approach to describe the radiation environment during the complete remote-handling scenario of In-Vessel components in the ITER facility. The impact of all relevant radiation sources during different stages of the operation is addressed. As-built structures and 2020 baseline designs are considered to produce the most detailed neutronics model of the Tokamak Complex, the 400,000-tonne civil structure hosting the tokamak, up to date. Novel capabilities of the D1SUNED code have allowed to compute the integral dose, the dose rate and the photon-induced neutron flux of both moving and static radiation sources. Time bins are included in the simulations to compute the dose rate caused by In-Vessel components at all positions along the transfer. The time evolution of the dose rate is built in video format with a 1-m resolution, especially valuable for hot-spots identification.

Flujo retrógrado diastólico. Comunicación preliminar / Diastolic retrograde arterial flow: preliminary report

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[Diastolic retrograde arterial flow: preliminary report]. / Flujo retrógrado diastólico. Comunicación preliminar.

OBJECTIVE: Holodiastolic arterial blood flow is associated with pathological conditions. Nevertheless, we have observed that lifting the arm at an angle greater than the horizontal causes holodiastolic arterial blood flow in the brachial artery in normal patients. Thus, we decided to assess the frequency and characteristics of this phenomenon. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten volunteers (7 women) aged 43 ± 17 years participated in the study. We used an ultrasound scanner with a 12 MHz probe to analyze the brachial artery. The examination included: a) Baseline measurements in the supine position; b) measurements during three minutes with the arm raised, and c) a measurement sixty seconds after lowering the arm to the supine position in which the baseline measurements had been obtained. RESULTS: We observed mid- and end-diastolic retrograde flow in 8/10 patients when their arms were raised. No mid- or end-diastolic retrograde flow was observed in the baseline measurements or after the arm was lowered to the supine position (p=0.0007). The minimum diastolic velocity was significantly higher in the measurements obtained with the arm raised than in the supine position before or after arm raising (-13.5 ± 4.9 cm/s vs. -2.38 ± 7.5 cm/s, p<0.05 and -13.5 ± 4.9 cm/s vs. -4.6 ± 5.2 cm/s, p<0.05, respectively). The modified resistance index was significantly higher when the arm was raised (1.20 ± 0.07 vs. 1.04 ± 0.15; p<0.05); moreover, the modified resistance index was significantly lower in the measurements obtained after the arm was lowered than in the baseline measurements (1.20 ± 0.07 vs 1.07 ± 0.08; p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We conclude that holodiastolic reflux occurs in healthy patients. This physiological phenomenon merits further investigation and can help elucidate previous observations in different pathological conditions.

Survivors of childhood abuse: their reported experiences with professional help.

This article analyzes the self-reports of 384 adults who responded to a survey of people abused physically, sexually, or emotionally by family members in childhood. Most of the respondents sought help as adults from social workers and other mental health professionals for the long-term effects of their abusive experiences. This article analyses the reports of their help-seeking experiences against a backdrop of the reports of clinicians and researchers on working with survivors, as reported in the literature. Although survivors of childhood abuse often are described as having difficulty relating to professionals, these respondents persisted in seeking help and tended to report at least one experience with professional services that was very helpful. Their self-esteem and family functioning in adulthood was associated with having had a very helpful professional or service provider. The findings describe the responses most valued by survivors, as well as their views of the limitations of available services.

Responding to children's disclosure of familial abuse: what survivors tell us.

This study is based on the reports of 384 adults who were abused physically, sexually, and/or emotionally in childhood by family members. It describes the survivors' attempts, as children, to get help by disclosing the abuse to someone who might intervene; those who did not disclose explain their reasons. The results indicate that disclosure usually did not bring an end to the abuse, and that little action was taken to control the perpetrator, even after disclosure took place. The responses received by the children to their disclosure are linked to their levels of self-esteem and family functioning as adults.