Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Domestic Agency for ITER, is responsible for the procurement of the divertor inner vertical target (IVT) and the cassette body (CB). Both IVT and CB have been supported by extensive Research and Development (R&D) work programmes, implemented over more than 15 years in Europe, to validate design, develop various fabrication technologies, assess thermo-mechanical and thermohydraulics performances and RH installation and maintainability. This paper presents the work performed and the technical challenges associated to the fabrication of the CB prototypes, the results of the prototype qualification as well as the lessons learned.

Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Domestic Agency for ITER, is responsible for a significant share of the overall procurement of internal components inside the vacuum vessel, the largest ones being as follows: (1) 48% of the ITER blanket first wall (FW), (2) the divertor cassette bodies and (3) the divertor inner vertical target. Procurement strategies have been implemented by the In-Vessel Project Team at F4E aiming at mitigating technical and commercial risks for the procurement of these ITER internal components, promoting as far as possible competition among industrial partners. These procurement strategies have been supported by extensive research and development (R&D) work programmes, implemented over more than 15 years in Europe, to develop various fabrication technologies especially for plasma facing components. They include in particular the manufacture and testing of small-scale mock-ups, medium-scale mock-ups and full-scale prototypes of blanket FW panels and divertor inner vertical targets. In these R&D work programmes, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of reliable armour-to-heat sink materials joining techniques. More recently, full-scale prototypes of the divertor cassette body have also been fabricated. This paper presents the procurement strategies implemented by F4E for the supply of the European contribution to the procurement of the above ITER internal components, together with the main outcome of the R&D work programmes and the state of progress of the respective qualification programmes.

The impact of landscape fragmentation resulting from human- and climate-mediated factors on the structure of a population of Glossina tachinoides Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) in the Mouhoun River basin, Burkina Faso, was investigated. Allele frequencies at five microsatellite loci were compared in four populations. The average distance between samples was 72 km. The sampling points traversed an ecological cline in terms of rainfall and riverine forest ecotype, along a river loop that enlarged from upstream to downstream. Microsatellite DNA demonstrated no structuring among the groups studied (F(ST) = 0.015, P = 0.07), which is contrary to findings pertaining to Glossina palpalis gambiensis Vanderplank in the same geographical area. The populations of G. tachinoides showed complete panmixia (F(IS) = 0, P = 0.5 for the whole sample) and no genetic differentiation among populations or global positioning system trap locations. This is in line with the results of dispersal studies which indicated higher diffusion coefficients for G. tachinoides than for G. p. gambiensis. The impact of these findings is discussed within the framework of control campaigns currently promoted by the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contamination on metabolite evaluation in the superior cerebellar vermis with single-voxel H-1-MRS in normal subjects and patients with degenerative ataxias.Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine healthy volunteers and 38 patients with degenerative ataxias and cerebellar atrophy were examined on a 1.5 Tesla scanner. Proton spectra of a volume of interest placed in the superior vermis were acquired using a four TE PRESS technique. We calculated N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr), choline (Cho)/Cr, and NAA/Cho ratios, T-2 relaxation times and concentrations of the same metabolites using the external phantom method. Finally, concentrations were corrected taking into account the proportion of nervous tissue and CSF, that was determined as Volume Fraction (VF).Results: In healthy subjects, a significant difference was observed between metabolite concentrations with and without correction for VF. As compared to controls, patients with ataxias showed significantly reduced NAA/Cr and NAA concentrations, while only corrected Cr concentration was significantly increased. The latter showed ail inverse correlation with VF.Conclusion: CSF contamination has a not negligible effect on the estimation of brain metabolites. The increase of Cr concentration in patients with cerebellar atrophy presumably reflects the substitutive gliosis which takes place along with loss of neurons.

Objective: To concurrently investigate with magnetic resonance (MR) the brain activation and regional brain atrophy in patients with Huntington disease (HD).Methods: Nine symptomatic HD patients and 11 healthy subjects underwent an MR study including functional MR acquisition during finger tapping of the right hand and high-resolution T1-weighted images. Functional and structural data were analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping 2 software.Results: As compared with control subjects, HD patients showed decreased activation in the left caudate nucleus and medial frontal and anterior cingulate gyri and increased activation in the right supplementary motor area and supramarginal gyrus and left intraparietal sulcus. The pattern of atrophy included thinning of the gray matter (GM) in the insula, inferior frontal gyrus, caudate, lentiform nucleus, and thalamus, bilaterally, in the left middle frontal, middle occipital, and middle temporal gyri, and of periventricular, subinsular, right temporal lobe, and left internal capsule white matter. Only the decreased activation in the caudate nucleus correlated topographically with the caudate GM loss.Conclusion: The cortical areas of functional changes do not correspond to those of GM atrophy in patients with HD and are likely to reflect decreased output of the motor basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit and compensatory recruitment of accessory motor pathways.

Objective: To explore with neuroimaging techniques the anatomical and functional correlates of sporadic hyperekplexia. Methods: Two elderly women with sporadic hyperekplexia underwent neurophysiological assessment, MRI of the brain and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the brainstem and frontal lobes. Regional cerebral blood flow was investigated with single photon emission tomography (SPECT) during evoked startles and at rest. Results: Both patients showed excessively large and non-habituating startle responses. In both patients, MRI showed impingement of the brainstem by the vertebrobasilar artery, lack of frontal or brainstem abnormalities on 1H-MRS and hyperperfusion in the dorsal pons and cingulate cortex, and superior frontal gyrus at SPECT during evoked startles. Conclusions: In our patients with hyperekplexia, the vertebrobasilar arteries were found to impinge on the brainstem. Neurophysiological findings and neurofunctional imaging of evoked startles indicated a pontine origin of the movement disorder modulated by activation in cortical, especially frontal, areas. The neurofunctional correlates of evoked startles in human sporadic hyperekplexia are similar to those observed for the startle circuit in animals.

PURPOSE:To prospectively compare brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and hydrogen 1 (1H) MR spectroscopy findings and to use functional MR imaging to explore the patterns of brain activation in men and women with Fabry disease (FD). MATERIALS AND METHODS:Eight men and eight women with FD (mean age, 38.8 years +/- 13.9 [standard deviation]) with absent or mild neurologic deficit and 16 healthy control subjects (eight men and eight women; mean age, 42.7 years +/- 15.3) gave informed consent to participate in the study, which was approved by the local ethical committee. Patients and control subjects underwent MR imaging, 1H MR spectroscopy of the frontal cortex and subcortical white matter, and functional MR imaging during repetitive flexion-extension of the last four fingers of the right hand. Extent of cerebral white matter damage was rated on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MR images by using a visual score. Areas of activation were identified by using statistical parametric mapping software and the adoption of a height threshold of P < .001 (uncorrected) and an extent threshold of P < .05 (corrected). RESULTS:Men and women with FD showed a similar distribution of cerebral white matter changes, lacunar and cortical infarcts, small hemorrhages, and vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. No significant (P > .05) difference was observed between patients with FD and control subjects for concentration of N-acetylaspartate, creatine, and choline. During the motor task, patients showed recruitment of additional cortical areas in comparison with control subjects. Increased activation of the contralateral sensorimotor area correlated (P = .002) with extent of white matter damage. CONCLUSION:Subcortical ischemic changes in men and women with FD are similar and are associated with increased recruitment of the sensorimotor network during a simple motor task, which might limit the functional effect of the white matter small-vessel disease.

In Burkina Faso, Glossina palpalis gambiensis Vanderplank and G. tachinoides Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) are the main cyclic vectors of trypanosomiasis. The vegetation type along river banks is an important factor determining the distribution and abundance of these tsetse. The following work investigated the relation between the plant species present (including the disturbance level) and tsetse distribution and abundance, using three ecotypes, described by P.C. Morel in 1978. These were the Guinean, Sudano-Guinean and Sudanese gallery forests. In the Mouhoun River basin, these three ecotypes are found successively from upstream to downstream. Berlinia grandiflora, Syzygium guineense and Cola laurifolia and finally Acacia seyal and Mitragyna inermis were the best indicators for the Guinean, Sudano-Guinean and Sudanese gallery forest ecotypes, respectively, as suggested by Morel. However, other species such as Pterocarpus santalinoides and Mimosa pigra were not ecotype specific. Trap catches confirmed that G. palpalis and G. tachinoides are predominant in Guinean and Sudanese gallery forests, respectively, and that both species are well represented in the Sudano-Guinean ecotype. Tsetse densities dropped significantly in disturbed Sudano-Guinean and Sudanese gallery forest sites. However, this was not the case for both species in Guinean or for G. tachinoides in half-disturbed Sudanese gallery forest sites, confirming their high resilience to human-made changes. The importance of a detailed consideration of riverine ecotypes when predicting tsetse densities is discussed.