bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neuropeptide Y acts in the paraventricular nucleus to suppress sympathetic nerve activity and its baroreflex regulation
Authors: Cassaglia Priscila A. , Shi Zhigang , Li Baoxin , Reis Wagner L. , Clute‐Reinig Nicholas M. , Stern Javier E. , Brooks Virginia L. 
Published: February 2014

Key points
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) acts in the brain to decrease sympathetic nerve activity (SNA); however, the specific site is unknown.
We identify the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) as a site of action, since nanoinjection of NPY into the PVN dose‐dependently decreases SNA, whereas PVN injection of NPY Y1 and Y5 receptor antagonists increases SNA.
NPY may directly inhibit PVN presympathetic neurons, since these neurons express Y1 receptors and, in patch‐clamp experiments, are inhibited by NPY.
Our data also indicate that identified PVN presympathetic neurons that are inhibited by NPY are also excited by α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone.
These results identify endogenous PVN NPY as a novel and potent inhibitory neuromodulator that may contribute to changes in SNA that occur in states associated with altered energy balance, such as obesity and pregnancy.
AbstractNeuropeptide Y (NPY), a brain neuromodulator that has been strongly implicated in the regulation of energy balance, also acts centrally to inhibit sympathetic nerve activity (SNA); however, the site and mechanism of action are unknown. In chloralose‐anaesthetized female rats, nanoinjection of NPY into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) dose‐dependently suppressed lumbar SNA (LSNA) and its baroreflex regulation, and these effects were blocked by prior inhibition of NPY Y1 or Y5 receptors. Moreover, PVN injection of Y1 and Y5 receptor antagonists in otherwise untreated rats increased basal and baroreflex control of LSNA, indicating that endogenous NPY tonically inhibits PVN presympathetic neurons. The sympathoexcitation following blockade of PVN NPY inhibition was eliminated by prior PVN nanoinjection of the melanocortin 3/4 receptor inhibitor SHU9119. Moreover, presympathetic neurons, identified immunohistochemically using cholera toxin b neuronal tract tracing from the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), express NPY Y1 receptor immunoreactivity, and patch‐clamp recordings revealed that both NPY and α‑melanocyte‐stimulating hormone (α‐MSH) inhibit and stimulate, respectively, PVN–RVLM neurons. Collectively, these data suggest that PVN NPY inputs converge with α‐MSH to influence presympathetic neurons. Together these results identify endogenous NPY as a novel and potent inhibitory neuromodulator within the PVN that may contribute to changes in SNA that occur in states associated with altered energy balance, such as obesity and pregnancy.
Dietary pre‐exposure of rats to fish oil does not enhance myocardial efficiency of isolated working hearts or their left ventricular trabeculae
Authors: Goo Soyeon , Han June‐Chiew , Nisbet Linley A. , LeGrice Ian J. , Taberner Andrew J. , Loiselle Denis S. 
Published: February 2014

Key points
Dietary fish oil has been found to have protective effects against cardiovascular disease, particularly in its role as an anti‐arrhythmic agent.
An additional mechanism proposed for the putative cardio‐protective effect is enhanced efficiency of metabolic energy usage by the heart.
We tested whether dietary supplementation of fish oil enhances cardiac efficiency or otherwise improves mechano‐energetic performance. Experiments were performed at two distinct physiological levels (whole organ and isolated tissues) employing two independent metabolic indices (oxygen consumption and heat production), respectively.
Feeding rats with either a fish oil‐enriched or a saturated fatty acid‐enriched diet did not alter the efficiency of either the isolated whole heart or its left ventricular trabeculae.
AbstractNumerous epidemiological studies, supported by clinical and experimental findings, have suggested beneficial effects of dietary fish or fish oil supplementation on cardiovascular health. One such experimental study showed a profound (100%) increase in myocardial efficiency (i.e. the ratio of work output to metabolic energy input) of the isolated whole heart, achieved by a corresponding decrease in the rate of myocardial oxygen consumption. However, a number of other investigations have returned null results on the latter energetic index. Such conflicting findings have motivated us to undertake a re‐examination. To that effect, we investigated the effects of dietary fatty acid supplementation on myocardial mechano‑energetics, with our primary focus on cardiac efficiency. We used both isolated hearts and isolated left ventricular trabeculae of rats fed with one of three distinct diets: reference (REF), fish oil‐supplemented (FO) or saturated fat‐supplemented (SFA). For all three groups, and at both spatial levels, we supplied 10 mm glucose as the exogenous metabolic substrate. In the working heart experiments, we found no difference in the average mechanical efficiency among the three dietary groups: 14.8 ± 1.1% (REF), 13.9 ± 0.6% (FO) and 13.6 ± 0.7% (SFA). Likewise, we observed no difference in peak mechanical efficiency of left ventricular trabeculae among the REF, FO and SFA groups: 13.3 ± 1.4, 11.2 ± 2.2 and 12.5 ± 1.5%, respectively. We conclude that there is no effect of a period of pre‐exposure to a diet supplemented with either fish oil or saturated fatty acids on the efficiency of the myocardium at either spatial level: tissue or whole heart.
Used Nuclear Fuel/Depleted Uranium: Is it a Waste or a Resource?
Authors: Kok Kenneth D. 
Published: February 2014

The purpose of this paper is to examine the energy and economic value of used nuclear fuel and depleted uranium. In the USA these materials are considered to be wastes. As such they are candidates for permanent disposal. The disposal of these materials in a manner that isolates them from human contact is a scientific, engineering, economic and political problem. Isolation can be defined requiring no potential human contact during a stated period of time due to failed containment. The period of isolation is expected to be in excess of one million years.
The uranium in the used fuel and the depleted uranium left over from the enrichment process represent about 99.5 percent of the uranium that was removed from the ground by mining uranium ores. If these materials can be utilized they would not be considered to be wastes. In addition they would carry a positive economic value. The value of these materials, based on the energy that can be extracted from the uranium, exceeds $100 trillion. Based on this the conclusion is that the material is a very valuable resource and definitely is not a waste.
Waste Management Strategy for Cost Effective and Environmentally Friendly NPP Decommissioning
Authors: Lidar Per , Bergh Niklas , Larsson Arne , Hedin Gunnar 
Published: February 2014

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants generates large volumes of radioactive or potentially radioactive waste. The proper management of the dismantling waste plays an important role for the time needed for the dismantling phase and thus is critical to the decommissioning cost.
An efficient and thorough process for inventorying, characterization and categorization of the waste provides a sound basis for the planning process. As part of comprehensive decommissioning studies for Nordic NPPs, Westinghouse has developed the decommissioning inventories that have been used for estimations of the duration of specific work packages and the corresponding costs. As part of creating the design basis for a national repository for decommissioning waste, the total production of different categories of waste packages has also been predicted. Studsvik has developed a risk based concept for categorization and handling of the generated waste using six different categories with a span from extremely small risk for radiological contamination to high level waste. The two companies have recently joined their skills in the area of decommissioning on selected market in a consortium named ndcon to further strengthen the proposed process.
Depending on the risk for radiological contamination or the radiological properties and other properties of importance for waste management, treatment routes are proposed with well-defined and proven methods for on-site or off-site treatment, activity determination and conditioning. The system is based on a graded approach philosophy aiming for high confidence and sustainability, aiming for re-use and recycling where found applicable.
The objective is to establish a process where all dismantled material has a pre-determined treatment route. These routes should through measurements, categorization, treatment, conditioning, intermediate storage and final disposal be designed to provide a steady, un-disturbed flow of material to avoid interruptions. Bottle-necks in the process causes increased space requirements and will have negative impact on the project schedule, which increases not only the cost but also the dose exposure to personnel. For these reasons it is critical to create a process that transfers material into conditioned waste ready for disposal as quickly as possible.
To a certain extent the decommissioning program should be led by the waste management process. With the objective to reduce time for handling of dismantled material at site and to efficiently and environmental-friendly use waste management methods (clearance for re-use followed by clearance for recycling), the costs for the plant decommissioning could be reduced as well as time needed for performing the decommissioning project. Also, risks for delays would be reduced with a well-defined handling scheme which limits surprises. Delays are a major cost driver for decommissioning projects.
Solidification of Spent Ion Exchange Resins Into the SIAL® Matrix at the Dukovany NPP, Czech Republic
Authors: Tatranský Peter , Pražská Milena , Harvan Dávid 
Published: February 2014

Based on the decision of the State Office for Nuclear Safety, the Dukovany NPP has been obliged to secure the efficient capacities for the disposal of spent ion exchange resins. Therefore, in September 2010, based on the contract with supplier company AMEC Nuclear Slovakia s.r.o. has begun with pumping and treatment of ion exchange resins from the storage tank 0TW30B02, situated in the auxiliary building.
The SIAL® technology, developed in AMEC Nuclear Slovakia, has been used for the solidification purposes. This technology allows an on-site treatment of various special radioactive waste streams (resins, sludge, sludge/resins and borates) at the room temperature.
The SIAL® matrix and technology were licensed by the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety in 2007.
On-site treatment and solidification of spent ion exchange resins at Dukovany NPP involves process of resin removal from tank using remotely operated manipulator, resin transportation, resin separation from free water, resin filling into 200 dm3 drums and solidification into SIAL® matrix in 200 dm3 drums using the FIZA S 200 facility.
The final product is observed for compressive strength, leachability, radionuclide composition, dose rate, solids and total weight. After meeting the requirements for final disposal and consolidation, the drums are being transported for the final disposal to the Repository at Dukovany site.
During the 3 month’s trial operation in 2010, and the normal operation in 2011 and 2012, 189 tons of dewatered resins have been treated into 1960 drums, with total activity higher than 920 GBq. At the end of trial run (2010), 22 tons of dewatered resins were treated into 235 drums.
During standard operation approximately 91 tons in 960 drums (2011) and 76 tons in 765 drums (2012) were treated. The weights of resins in the drum ware in the range from 89–106 kg and compressive strength limit (10 MPa) has already been achieved 24 hours after fixation. The final measured strength values ranged from 19.0–34.7 MPa and real leachability values ranged from 0.03–0.65%, far below the 4% limit value. Collective effective dose of all workers in 2012 was 7.7 mSv (12.6 mSv in 2011, 6.2 mSv in 2010). Average individual effective dose in 2012 was 0.55 mSv (14 workers), and maximal individual effective dose was 2.25 mSv. This approach allows fast, safe and cost effective immobilization and transformation of dangerous radioactive waste such as sludge and resins into the solid form, which is suitable for long term storage or disposal.
Graphite Waste Pit Cleanup
Authors: Thiebaut Valérie , Gerber Jean-Luc 
Published: February 2014

The UP1 plant in Marcoule reprocessed nearly 20,000 tons of used natural uranium gas cooled reactor fuel coming from the first generation of civil nuclear reactors in France. During more than 40 years, the decladding operations produced thousands of tons of processed waste, mainly magnesium and graphite fragments.
In the absence of a French repository for the graphite waste, the graphite sludge content of the storage pit had to be retrieved and transferred into a newer and safer pit. So, this project consists in the full retrieval and transfer of 15 m3 of water mixed with graphite dust located in the decladding facility, as well as the complete cleanup and decontamination of the pit. The equipment and process necessary for retrieval operations were designed, built and tested.
The process is mainly based on the use of two pumps (one to capture and the other one to transfer the sludge) working one after the other and a robotic arm mounted on a telescopic mast. A dedicated process was also set up for the removal of the biggest fragments. In the pit, the sludge retrieval and transfer operations have been almost completed. Most of the non-pumpable graphite fragments has been removed and transferred to a new storage pit.
As irradiant fragments have been discovered in the pit, specific studies are in progress in order to remove them to the laboratory for dissolution. This work is expected to 2014.
Nuclear Fuel Assemblies and Fuel Debris Monitor for Characterization of Fuel Assemblies for Final Storage
Authors: Sokcic-Kostic M. , Langer F. , Schultheis R. , Klein Ch. 
Published: February 2014

NUKEM monitor FAMOS is designed to measure the burn up of fuel assemblies (FA’s) and allows the calculation of the content of fissile material and other actinides. The knowledge of the isotopic composition and activities of FA’s is required for a safe handling and storage of the elements.
The monitor analyses the measurement results on the basis of burn up calculations which improve the quality of the results, with respect to previous systems, which did not use those.
D&D Knowledge Management Information Tool: A Web Based System Developed to Share D&D Knowledge Worldwide
Authors: Lagos L. , Upadhyay H. , Shoffner P. 
Published: February 2014

Deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) work is a high-risk and technically challenging enterprise within the U.S. Department of Energy complex. During the past three decades, the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has been in charge of carrying out one of the largest environmental restoration efforts in the world: the cleanup of the Manhattan Project legacy.
In today’s corporate world, worker experiences and knowledge that have developed over time represent a valuable corporate asset. The ever-dynamic workplace, coupled with an aging workforce, presents corporations with the ongoing challenge of preserving work-related experiences and knowledge for cross-generational knowledge transfer to the future workforce [5]. To prevent the D&D knowledge base and expertise from being lost over time, the DOE and the Applied Research Center at Florida International University (FIU) have developed the web-based Knowledge Management Information Tool (KM-IT) to capture and maintain this valuable information in a universally available and easily accessible and usable system. The D&D KM-IT was developed in collaboration with DOE Headquarters (HQ), the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG), and the ALARA [as low as reasonably achievable] Centers at Savannah River Sites to preserve the D&D information generated and collected by the D&D community. This is an open secured system that can be accessed from https://www.dndkm.org over the web and through mobile devices at https://m.dndkm.org.
This knowledge system serves as a centralized repository and provides a common interface for D&D-related activities. It also improves efficiency by reducing the need to rediscover knowledge and promotes the reuse of existing knowledge. It is a community-driven system that facilitates the gathering, analyzing, storing, and sharing of knowledge and information within the D&D community. It assists the DOE D&D community in identifying potential solutions to their problem areas by using the vast resources and knowledge base available throughout the global D&D community.
The D&D KM-IT offers a mechanism to the global D&D community for searching relevant D&D information and is focused on providing a single point of access into the collective knowledge base of the D&D community within and outside of the DOE. Collecting information from subject matter specialists, it builds a knowledge repository for future reference archiving Lessons Learned, Best Practices, ALARA reports, and other relevant documents and maintains a secured collaboration platform for the global D&D community to share knowledge. With the dynamic nature and evolution of the D&D knowledge base due to multiple factors such as changes in the workforce, new technologies and methodologies, economics, and regulations, the D&D KM-IT is being developed in a phased and modular fashion.
On Evaluation of Assessments of Accruals of Future Dismantling Costs
Authors: Labor Bea , Lindskog Staffan 
Published: February 2014

A major prerequisite in order for civilian commercial nuclear energy production to qualify as sustainable energy production is that systems for the management of the nuclear waste legacy are in operation. These waste types are present in a range from very low short lived waste (VLLW) to long lived high level waste (HLW) (including the used nuclear fuel).
The second prerequisite is that financial responsibilities or other constraints must not be passed on to coming generations.
The first condition for qualification corresponds to the Polluters Pays Principle (PPP) which demands that the responsibility for the waste management rests solely with the polluter. The second qualification corresponds to the principle of fairness between generations and thus concerns the appropriate distribution of responsibilities between the generations.
It is important to note that these two conditions must be met simultaneously, and that compliance with both is a necessary prerequisite in order for commercial use of nuclear power to qualify as a semi-sustainable energy source.
Financial and technical planning for dismantling and decommissioning of nuclear installations cannot be regarded as successful unless it rests upon a distinctive way to describe and explain the well-founded values of different groups of stakeholders. This cumbersome task can be underpinned by transparent and easy to grasp models for calculation and estimation of future environmental liabilities. It essential that a systematic classification is done of all types of costs and that an effort is done to evaluate the precision level in the cost estimates. In this paper, a systematic and transparent way to develop a parametric approach that rest upon basic accounting standards is combined with data about younger stakeholder’s values towards decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installation. The former entity rests upon theoretical and practical methods from business administration, whilst the latter is based on current survey data retrieved from 667 personal interviews in one town in Poland and one town in Slovakia with a near 100 % response rate.
The main conclusions from this field study may be summarised as follows:
• Sustainable energy sources are prioritised.
• Around one quarter of the respondents regards nuclear power as a future semi-sustainable commercial energy production mode subject to that the waste is managed in a sustainable, environmental friendly and safe way.
• The values are to a significant degree positioned on health, safety and environmental (HSE) attributes.
• The polluter pays principle is honoured.
• There are doubts regarding the compliance with these principles due to risks for delays in the implementation phase of repositories for disposal of the nuclear residues.
• 1/5th of the respondents expressed an openness to reprocessing (which is linked to the concept of “new nuclear power”).
Behaviour of IPG Waste Forms Bearing BaSO4 as the Dominant Sludge Constituent Generated From the Treatment of Water Used for Cooling the Stricken Power Reactors
Authors: Amamoto Ippei , Kobayashi Hidekazu , Yokozawa Takuma , Yamashita Teruo , Nagai Takayuki , Kitamura Naoto , Takebe Hiromichi , Mitamura Naoki , Tsuzuki Tatsuya 
Published: February 2014

The great amount of water used for cooling the stricken power reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi following the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 has resulted in accumulation of cooling water so-called the remaining water in some buildings.
As the cooling water is subsequently contaminated by fission products (FPs) and some other radioactive substances, it is necessary to decontaminate this ‘cooling water’ to reduce the volume of liquid radioactive waste and to reuse it again for cooling the affected reactors.
Some methods are applied to remove the radioactive substances from the cooling water. However, after treatments of water, there arises a secondary radioactive waste, the sludge. Steps are now taken to immobilize this sludge.
In this paper, BaSO4, as one of main constituents of the sludge, was chosen as an immobilizing target substance. The appropriate manufacturing condition of glass waste form for loading the sludge (BaSO4) was studied and the chemical durability was evaluated by measuring the dissolution rate. For this experiment, the iron phosphate glass (IPG), which is known to possess a large loading capacity for a variety of chemical substances, was employed as the glass medium.
Based on experimental results, it is evident that BaSO4 can be loaded into the IPG medium when it possesses the appropriate composition and melting temperature. During loading, BaSO4 converted into BaO, acting as a network modifier, which leads to enhanced stability of IPG.