Feasibility in Finite Time

It is common to tolerate that a system's performance be unsustainable during an interim period. To live long however, its state must eventually satisfy various constraints. In this regard we design here differential inclusions that generate, in one generic format, two distinct phases of system dynamics. The first ensures feasibility in finite time; the second maintains that property forever after.differential inclusions; generalized subdifferentials; duality mapping; distance function; prox-regurality; finite-time absorption; sweeping processess.

Brane inflation and the fine-tuning problem

Brane inflation can provide a promissing framework for solving the fine-tuning problem in standard inflationary models. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the mechanism by which this can be achieved. By considering the supersymmetric two-stage inflation model it is shown that the initial fine-tuning of the coupling parameter can be considerably relaxed. SubPlanckian values of the inflaton during inflation can also be obtained.Comment: 04 pages (Revtex

Cross-sections for nuclide production in 56Fe target irradiated by 300, 500,750, 1000, 1500, and 2600 MeV protons compared with data on hydrogen target irradiation by 300, 500, 750, 1000, and 1500 MeV/nucleon 56Fe ions

Cross-sections for radioactive nuclide production in 56Fe(p,x) reactions at 300, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, and 2600 MeV were measured using the ITEP U-10 proton accelerator. In total, 221 independent and cumulative yields of products of half-lives from 6.6 min to 312 days have been obtained via the direct-spectrometry method. The measured data have been compared with the experimental data obtained elsewhere by the direct and inverse kinematics methods and with calculations by 15 codes, namely: MCNPX (INCL, CEM2k, BERTINI, ISABEL), LAHET (BERTINI, ISABEL), CEM03 (.01, .G1, .S1), LAQGSM03 (.01, .G1, >.S1), CASCADE-2004, LAHETO, and BRIEFF. Most of our data are in a good agreement with the inverse kinematics results and disprove the results of some earlier activation measurements that were quite different from the inverse kinematics measurements. The most significant calculation-to-experiment differences are observed in the yields of the A<30 light nuclei, indicating that further improvements in nuclear reaction models are needed, and pointing out as well to a necessity of more complete measurements of such reactions.Comment: 53 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables, only pdf file, submitted to Phys. Rev.

The GUINEVERE Project for Accelerator Driven System Physics

paper 9414International audienceThe GUINEVERE project is part of the EUROTRANS Integrated Project of the 6th EURATOM Framework Programme. It is mainly devoted to ADS on-line reactivity monitoring validation, sub-criticality determination and operational procedures (loading, start-up, shut-down, ...) as a follow-up of the MUSE experiments. The project consists in coupling a fast lead core, set-up in the VENUS reactor at SCK*CEN Mol (B), with a GENEPI neutron source under construction by CNRS. To accommodate the accelerator in a vertical coupling configuration, the VENUS building is being heightened. The fast core will be loaded with enriched Uranium and will be moderated and reflected with solid lead (zero power experiment). For the purpose of the experimental programme, the neutron source has to be operated not only in pulsed mode but also in continuous mode to investigate the current-to-flux reactivity indicator in representative conditions of a powerful ADS. In this latter mode it is also required to make short beam interruptions to have access to the neutron population decrease as a function of time: from this spectrum it will be possible to apply different analysis techniques such as "prompt decay" fitting techniques and "source jerk" techniques. Beam interruptions will be repeated at a programmable frequency to improve time spectra statistics. Different sub-criticality levels (keff=0.99, 0.97, 0.95, ...) will be investigated in order to obtain a full set of data points for the final overall validation of the methodology. This paper describes the status of the experimental facility assembling, and the foreseen experimental programme to be started

The GUINEVERE project at the VENUS facility

Proc. on CD Rom log315International audienceThe GUINEVERE project is an international project in the framework of IP-EUROTRANS, the FP6 program which aims at addressing the main issues for ADS development in the framework of partitioning and transmutation for nuclear waste volume and radiotoxicity reduction. The GUINEVERE project is carried out in the context of domain 2 of IP-EUROTRANS, ECATS, devoted to specific experiments for the coupling of an accelerator, a target and a subcritical core. These experiments should provide an answer to the questions of online reactivity monitoring, sub-criticality determination and operational procedures (loading, start-up, shutdown, …) in an ADS by 2009-2010. The project has the objective to couple a fast lead core, within the VENUS building operated by the SCK•CEN, with a neutron generator able to work in three different modes: pulsed, continuous and continuous with beam interruptions at the millisecond scale. In order to achieve this goal, the VENUS facility has to be adapted and a modified GENEPI-3C accelerator has to be designed and constructed. The paper describes the main modifications to the reactor core and facility and to the accelerator, which will be executed during the years 2008 and 2009, and the experimental programme which will start in 2009

Acute intestinal obstruction revealing synchronous gastrointestinal stromal tumors in a small bowel diverticulum and mucinous adenocarcinoma of the colon: a case report

Gastrointestinalstromal tumors are rare neoplasms and represent 0,1% to 3% of all gastrointestinal cancers. They are the most frequent mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract with a malignant potential and unpredictable behavior. The synchronous association with other primary gastrointestinal carcinoma has been rarely reported in the literature with increasing number in the last ten years. The associated Gastrointestinalstromal tumor is usually discovered incidentally during surgery for carcinoma. The limited number of these cases cannot confirm the existence of a common factor in tumorigenesis of these different tumors and other studies are needed to clarify the possible association. We report the first case in the literature of synchronous primary Gastrointestinalstromal tumors developed in small bowel diverticulum and mucinousadenocarcinoma of the colon. Key words: Synchronous, Gastrointestinalstromal tumors, Adenocarcinoma, Colon

Estimated glomerular filtration rate slope and risk of primary and secondary major adverse cardiovascular events and heart failure hospitalization in people with type 2 diabetes: An analysis of the EXSCEL trial

Aim: The decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a significant predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD), occurs heterogeneously in people with diabetes because of various risk factors. We investigated the role of eGFR decline in predicting CVD events in people with type 2 diabetes in both primary and secondary CVD prevention settings. Materials and Methods: Bayesian joint modelling of repeated measures of eGFR and time to CVD event was applied to the Exenatide Study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering (EXSCEL) trial to examine the association between the eGFR slope and the incidence of major adverse CV event/hospitalization for heart failure (MACE/hHF) (non‐fatal myocardial infarction, non‐fatal stroke, CV death, or hospitalization for heart failure). The analysis was adjusted for age, sex, smoking, systolic blood pressure, baseline eGFR, antihypertensive and lipid‐lowering medication, diabetes duration, atrial fibrillation, high‐density cholesterol, total cholesterol, HbA1c and treatment allocation (once‐weekly exenatide or placebo). Results: Data from 11 101 trial participants with (n = 7942) and without (n = 3159) previous history of CVD were analysed. The mean ± SD eGFR slope per year in participants without and with previous CVD was −0.68 ± 1.67 and −1.03 ± 2.13 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively. The 5‐year MACE/hHF incidences were 7.5% (95% CI 6.2, 8.8) and 20% (95% CI 19, 22), respectively. The 1‐SD decrease in the eGFR slope was associated with increased MACE/hHF risks of 48% (HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.12, 1.98, p = 0.007) and 33% (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.18,1.51, p < 0.001) in participants without and with previous CVD, respectively. Conclusions: eGFR trajectories over time significantly predict incident MACE/hHF events in people with type 2 diabetes with and without existing CVD, with a higher hazard ratio for MACE/hHF in the latter group