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After 3 h of accumulated time from repeated plasma shots during C7 campaign performed in 2023, a deposited layer appeared on the ITER-grade W-monoblock of the lower divertor of WEST, mostly on the high field side. The growth of the deposit was observed during the campaign using infrared cameras, showing a large increase of the area covered by the deposit (x4) in the last two hours of cumulated plasma time. The deposit becomes problematic for the operation as it generates flakes which provoke radiative collapse when entering the plasma. A cleaning of the lower divertor is mandatory. A first cleaning was done using adhesive tape to remove all weakly adhered parts of the deposit. This method was chosen because it was easy to implement and did not generate dusts inside the tokamak. The cleaning enables partial removal of the more lightly adhered deposits but a large fraction remains stuck on the monoblock. A second cleaning was tried during 2024 operation by using the plasma as cleaner. A scenario was developed to put the inner strike line directly on the deposit to heat it and try to remove it by thermal stress. The deposit reaches temperature up to 1560°C but was not removed. The impurities generated were higher than normal operation and decreased during the cleaning session (−50% of light impurities observed at the end of the cleaning discharge session), showing an effect of cleaning by removing impurities from the deposit.

Assessing the performance of the ITER design for the tungsten (W) divertor Plasma Facing Units (PFUs) in a tokamak environment is a high priority issue to ensure efficient plasma operation. This paper reviews the most recent results derived from experiments and post-mortem analysis of the ITER-grade PFUs exposed in the WEST tokamak and the associated modelling, with a focus on understanding heat loading and damage evolution. Several shaping options, sharp or chamfered leading edge (LE), unshaped or shaped blocks with a toroidal bevel as foreseen in ITER, were investigated, under steady state heat fluxes of up to 120 MW⋅m−2 and 6 MW⋅m−2 on the sharp LE and top surface of the block, respectively. A very high spatial resolution (VHR) infrared (IR) camera (0.1 mm/pixel) was used to derive the temporal and surface distribution of the temperature and heat load on the castellated tungsten blocks for different geometric alignment and plasma conditions. Photonic modelling was required to reproduce the IR measurements in particular in the toroidal and poloidal gaps of the mono-block (MB) stacks where high apparent temperatures are observed. Specular reflection is found to be the dominant emitter in these parts of the blocks. W-cracking was observed on the leading edge of the blocks already within the first phase of plasma operation, during which the divertor was equipped with unshaped PFUs, including some intentionally misaligned blocks. Numerical analysis taking into account softening processes and mechanical stresses, revealed brittle failure due to transients as the dominant failure mechanisms. Ductile failure was observed in one particular block used for the melting experiment, therefore under extremely high steady state heat load conditions. W-melting achieved on actively cooled PFU exhibits specific features: shallow melting and slow melt displacement. Plasma exposure of pre-damaged PFUs at various damage levels (crack network and melted droplets) was carried out under high heat load conditions with several hours of cumulated plasma duration. IR data and preliminary surface analyses show no evidence of significant degradation damage progression under these conditions.

The consequences of tungsten (W) damaging processes, such as cracking and melting, on divertor lifetime and plasma operation are high priority issues for ITER. A sustained melting experiment was conducted in WEST using a 2 mm deep groove geometry on the upstream mono-block (MB) to overexpose the sharp leading edge (LE) of the downstream MB. W-cracking has been evidenced for the first time with a very high spatial resolution infrared camera before tungsten melting was reached. These cracks develop when the monoblock temperature is about 2600 °C, thus higher than both ductile to brittle transition and softening threshold of tungsten, suggesting that these cracks are different from the ones observed in previous campaigns where brittle failure was involved, because of transient events on cold monoblock. Post-exposure analyses have been performed on the damaged monoblock, highlighting 12 main cracks on the LE, with a width varying from 33 µm to 77 µm, and an average spacing of 0.45 mm. Parallel heat flux about 90 MW/m2 has been derived from infrared temperature measurements, with a heat flux decay length on the target of 4 mm. The T-REX modelling code suggest here that with these thermal inputs, a crack can initiates due to thermal cycling without disruption, with a ductile failure, under 1 to 5 cycles for a tungsten DBTT varying from 400 °C to 500 °C.

Fourteen ITER-like plasma-facing units (PFUs) made of bulk tungsten were installed in the WEST tokamak divertor. Five of which were misaligned with their poloidal leading edges (LEs) exposed to the plasma heat flux: two sharp-edge PFUs and three chamfered PFUs (vertical misalignment h = 0.30 ± 0.1 mm). The parallel heat flux is measured on the outer strike point with a very high-resolution (VHR) infrared camera, featuring a sub-millimeter spatial resolution (~0.1 mm/pixel). A Medium Wavelength IR filter (MWIR) was used to lower the temperature detection threshold (Tthreshold,BB ≈ 250 °C) and extend the IR analysis to the full toroidal Monoblock (MB) length on both outer (OSP) and inner (ISP) strike points. The parallel heat flux derived from the VHR data (~70 MW/m2) is consistent with previous analysis and other measurements (Thermocouple and Fiber Bragg Grating) at the maximum heat flux location (OSP). This corresponds to real temperatures of about 1000 °C on the LE. Values obtained on the LE of the ISP are typically lower than of the OSP by a factor of two. However, a significant discrepancy between modeling and measurement is observed along with the toroidal temperature profile, with a temperature drop in the first 5 mm after the LEs. Visual and microscopic analysis performed on the component show clear evidence of surface state modification caused by plasma exposure: the presence of cracks on the LE, polished surface in its vicinity, and rougher surfaces further away from the LE.

In this paper, a method was developed to estimate in-situ the emissivity of the W-coated graphite divertor tiles in the WEST tokamak. This method is based on the double heating method and take advantages of the divertor temperature increase after successive plasma experiments due to the inertial behavior of the plasma facing components. Photonic calculations have been used to disentangle the emitted and the reflected parts in the measured radiances from the infrared system. The uncertainty as well as the robustness of the method have been investigated thanks to the wide IR and thermocouple coverage in the WEST divertor. The results show strong variation of the emissivity along the divertor W surfaces with a factor 4 variation after the experimental campaigns including 18.3 GJ and about 21 000 s of cumulated injected energy and duration, respectively. Finally, the implication of a non-uniform emissivity on heat flux estimation from IR measurements is discussed, showing that non-uniform emissivity must be considered to obtain an accurate heat flux decay width.

The development of successful climate services faces a number of challenges, including the identification of the target audience and their needs and requirements, and the effective communication of complex climate information, through engagement with a range of stakeholders. This paper describes how these challenges were tackled during the European Climatic Energy Mixes (ECEM) project, part of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), in order to deliver a pre-operational, proof-of-concept climate service for the European renewable energy sector. The process of iterative user engagement adopted in ECEM is described, from the initial presentation of the team’s first vision for such a service to support external stakeholders, through to evaluation of the final interactive tool for visualisation, data download and supporting documentation (the C3S ECEM Demonstrator). The outcomes of this evaluation are outlined, together with a retrospective reflection on the engagement and development process. The extent to which co-production and co-design were achieved in practice is assessed. The paper also highlights the distance travelled from the start to end of ECEM in terms of building capacity, developing a community of practice, and raising the Technology Readiness Level. The relevance of ECEM for the European climate services market is briefly considered, including the development of downstream commercial services which build upon the public C3S services. Keywords: Climate services, Sectoral information system, Renewable energy, User needs and requirements, Stakeholder engagement, Co-production

Abstract Evidence that enables us to identify, assess, and access the small airways in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has led INTERASMA (Global Asthma Association) and WAO to take a position on the role of the small airways in these diseases. Starting from an extensive literature review, both organizations developed, discussed, and approved the manifesto, which was subsequently approved and endorsed by the chairs of ARIA and GA2LEN. The manifesto describes the evidence gathered to date and defines and proposes issues on small airway involvement and management in asthma and COPD with the aim of challenging assumptions, fostering commitment, and bringing about change. The small airways (defined as those with an internal diameter

We demonstrate levels of skill for forecasts of seasonal-mean wind speed and solar irradiance in Europe, using seasonal forecast systems available from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). While skill is patchy, there is potential for the development of climate services for the energy sector. Following previous studies, we show that, where there is skill, a simple linear regression-based method using the hindcast and forecast ensemble means provides a straightforward approach for producing calibrated probabilistic seasonal forecasts. This method extends naturally to using a larger-scale feature of the climate, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, as the climate model predictor, and we show that this provides opportunities to improve the skill in some cases. We further demonstrate that, on seasonal-average and regional (e.g. national) average scales, wind and solar power generation are highly correlated with single climate variables (wind speed and irradiance). The detailed non-linear transformations from meteorological quantities to energy quantities, which are essential for detailed simulation of power system operations, are usually not necessary when forecasting gross wind or solar generation potential at seasonal-mean regional-mean scales. Together, our results demonstrate that where there is skill in seasonal forecasts of wind speed and irradiance, or a correlated larger-scale climate predictor, skilful forecasts of seasonal mean wind and solar power generation can be made based on the climate variable alone, without requiring complex transformations. This greatly simplifies the process of developing a useful seasonal climate service., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The authors report a case of a 76-year-old man, with not past history of abnormal bleeding, who suffered an acute, recurrent, intestinal haemorrhage from extensive angiodysplasia of the colon. Intestinal bleeding and angiodysplasia were associated with a von Willebrand's disease. Genetic analysis showed a point mutation in arginine 611 of the mature von Willebrand's factor subunit (A1 loop) confirming a von Willebrand's disease type 2.

In order to achieve a correct diagnosis of drug anaphylaxis using a radioimmunoassay devoid of interferences, we have studied factors leading to false positive or false negative values of plasma histamine. Different steps in sample collection were studied systematically in 30 normal volunteers. False positive values were found in haemolysed samples, with histamine concentrations being correlated with haemoglobin concentrations, and where plasma was aspirated from the white-cell layer. There was no significant increase when a tourniquet or vacuum tubes were used, or when blood tubes were left at 4 degrees C overnight. In 12 patients who experienced an anaphylactic reaction, histamine disappeared from blood 10 times more slowly than expected. False negative values were found in two pregnant women and one heparinized patient. Histamine was remarkably stable in vitro in blood or plasma samples, whereas it disappeared rapidly when plasma from a pregnant woman or a heparinized patient was added to the sample. We conclude that false positive and false negative values are rare when using this radioimmunoassay.