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OBJECTIVES: erosive hand osteoarthritis (EHOA) is an inflammatory disorder involving joints of the hands, which may be accompanied by acute phase reactants. The relationship between EHOA and classical osteoarthritis (OA) is still controversial, since some authors consider EHOA as a distinct disease, other as a subset of OA, and some as a border entity between OA and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Scarce data are available about the seroimmunological profile of the disease, which could aid to identify a possible role of the immune system in EHOA pathogenesis, and could also allow to better differentiate EHOA both from OA and RA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: blood was drawn from the following patients: 37 with EHOA, 35 with OA and 45 with RA. All sera were tested for rheumatoid factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP), antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-extractable nuclear antigens (anti-ENA) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). RESULTS: ANCA were never detected in OA, whereas they were found in 7 (19%) EHOA and 8 (18%) RA patients; the difference between EHOA and OA was statistically significant (p

Leucocyte migration inhibition in response to challenge with gluten fraction III was prevented by pretreatment of coeliac leucocytes with pronase, an enzyme that removes cytophilic antibodies. Leucocytes from healthy volunteers preincubated with serum from untreated and treated coeliac patients showed marked migration inhibition when incubated with gluten fraction III. No migration inhibition was observed with leucocytes from healthy volunteers preincubated with serum from patients with small bowel diseases other than coeliac disease and from other healthy volunteers. Untreated and treated coeliac patients who were leucocyte migration inhibition negative in the direct assay had migration indices in the sensitized range in the serum induced assay. This work is in keeping with a previous suggestion that in coeliac disease leucocyte migration inhibition induced by gluten fraction III is caused by cytophilic antibodies.

The validation of the key technologies relevant for a DEMO Breeding Blanket is one of the main objectives of the design and operation of the Test Blanket Systems (TBS) in ITER. In compliance with the main features and technical requirements of the parent breeding blanket concepts, the European TBM Project is developing the HCLL (Helium Cooled Lithium Lead) and HCPB (Helium Cooled Pebble Bed)-TBS, focusing in this phase on the design life cycle and on R&D activities in support of the design. The TBS ancillary systems are mainly circuits devoted to the removal of thermal power and to the extraction and recovery of the tritium generated in the Test Blanket Modules. They are: • The Helium Cooling System (HCS); • The Coolant Purification System (CPS); • The Tritium Extraction System (HCLL-TRS, HCPB-TES); • The Lead Lithium Loop. Their conceptual design was deeply analyzed during the ITER Conceptual Design Review (CDR) in 2015. The assessment of the CDR was overall positive and recommendations for improvements were made. The present design takes into account the main CDR recommendations as well as the implementation of the requirements related to ITER operation, safety principles application and physical space constrains.

In the framework of the EU fusion roadmap implementing activities, an accelerator-based Li(d,xn) neutron source called DONES (Demo-Oriented early NEutron Source) is being designed within the EUROfusion Work Package Early Neutron Source as an essential irradiation facility for testing candidate materials for DEMO reactor and future fusion power plants. DONES will employ a high speed liquid lithium jet struck by a 125 mA, 40 MeV deuteron beam to generate the intense neutron flux used to irradiate the material samples up to the desired level of displacement damage (˜10 dpa/fpy for iron in 0.3 l) and He production rates (˜10-13 appm He/dpa). In order to rapidly achieve a sound and stable design, a new configuration of the DONES target system based on the so-called integral concept has been proposed as reference solution in place of the former baseline design that envisaged a target assembly endowed with a replaceable back-plate, being the latter solution not yet fully qualified and thus not readily implementable. Moreover, following the outcomes of detailed dedicated analyses taking into account different aspects, the design of several components (Quench Tank, Lithium inlet pipe, Vacuum Chamber, etc.) has been changed. In this paper, a brief description of the current design of the DONES Target System is presented including all the above-mentioned aspects, showing the capability of the system to fulfil the prescribed requirements.

In the framework of the current IFMIF Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) phase, ENEA is responsible for the design of the European concept of the IFMIF lithium target system which foresees the possibility to periodically replace only the most irradiated and thus critical component (i.e., the backplate) while continuing to operate the rest of the target for a longer period (bayonet backplate concept). With the objective of evaluating the performances of the system in terms of temperature, stress and displacement fields evolution during start-up and shutdown phases, an uncoupled thermomechanical transient analysis has been performed in close collaboration with the University of Palermo by means of a qualified finite element (FE) thermomechanical code. The calculations employed a realistic 3D time-dependent FE model which takes into account all the mechanical and thermal loads including the nuclear heating due to neutron and prompt gamma fields during start-up and decay power of activated products during shutdown. The nuclear data have been calculated by ENEA as part of a parallel extensive neutronic analysis carried out through the MCNP transport code and the EASY-2010 activation code package and then passed as input to the thermomechanical FE model. In this paper, the results of the above transient analyses are reported, highlighting the relevant indications obtained with respect to the fulfillment of the design requirements and possible hints for improving the system design. In particular, it is found that ITER design rules taking into account secondary loads are not always fulfilled during the transient, whereas the predicted displacements allow to exclude any contact of the target system with the surrounding structures. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

In the framework of the current IFMIF Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) phase, ENEA is responsible for the design of the European concept of the IFMIF lithium target system which foresees the possibility to periodically replace only the most irradiated and thus critical component (i.e., the backplate) while continuing to operate the rest of the target for a longer period (bayonet backplate concept). In this work, the results of the steady state thermomechanical analysis of the IFMIF EU target assembly are briefly reported highlighting the relevant indications obtained with respect to the fulfillment of the design requirements. © 2013 IEEE.

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is an accelerator-driven intense neutron source where candidate materials for fusion reactors will be tested and validated. The high energy neutron flux is produced by means of two deuteron beams (total current of 250 mA, energy of 40 MeV) that strikes a liquid lithium target circulating in a lithium loop of IFMIF plant. The European (EU) contribution to the development of the lithium facility comprises five procurement packages, as follow: (1) participation to the experimental activities of the EVEDA lithium test loop in Oarai (Japan); (2) study aimed at evaluating the corrosion and erosion phenomena, promoted by lithium, for structural fusion reference materials like AISI 316L and Eurofer; (3) design and validation of the lithium purification method with the aim to provide input data for the design of the purification system of IFIMF lithium loop; (4) design and validation of the remote handling (RH) procedures for the refurbishment/replacement of the EU concept of IFMIF target assembly including the design of the remote handling tools; (5) the engineering design of the European target assembly for IFMIF and the safety and RAMI analyses for the entire IFMIF lithium facility. The paper gives an overview of the status of the activities and of the main outcomes achieved so far. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ENEA is developing an accelerator-driven 14 MeV neutron source exploiting the deuterium–tritium fusion reaction to produce 99Mo medical radioisotope as an alternative production route not based on fission reactors. It is expected that, during normal operation, a number of radionuclides, generated by means of neutron irradiation on the raw material (natural Molybdenum), will be produced and managed. The present manuscript, as foreseen by national law, discusses a hypothetical scenario to test the environmental screening models, in turn evaluating the mechanisms and parameters which affect and control the path of liquid effluents potentially released during normal operation of the facility. The aim is to estimate the amount of radioactivity to be operated and the fraction potentially discharged in this hypothetical scenario, so as to ensure that the radioactive material can be managed without any risk for the population and the environment, according to national regulations and thoroughly fulfilling the international guidelines.