ESS Bilbao

To analyze the incidence of flap loss in laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), management of this complication, and visual outcomes. This multicenter, multisurgeon, single-protocol, retrospective case series study enrolled patients who had undergone LASIK and experienced flap loss. Patients were operated on using a Moria LSKONE or a Moria One-Use-Plus-SBK microkeratome (Microtech Inc, Moria Ophthalmic Instruments). The study assessed uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), predictability (accuracy to the intended target), safety (change in Snellen lines of CDVA), and efficacy (difference between UDVA and CDVA). A control group was created to compare refractive outcomes, predictability, safety, and efficacy for eyes with flap loss and patients whose LASIK procedure was free of complications. The analysis included 1,008,849 eyes. Flap loss occurred in 16 eyes from 16 patients. Patients received topical mitomycin C (MMC) after flap loss in 9 cases (7 did not receive MMC). A bandage contact lens was applied in all 9 cases. Mean UDVA was significantly worse in the group of patients with a flap loss (P = .013), although the difference in CDVA was not (P = .077). Both the mean efficacy index and the mean safety index were significantly worse in patients with flap loss (P = .004 and .02, respectively). Flap loss is an extremely rare complication after LASIK. It can be managed with MMC and a bandage contact lens, with a reasonable safety index and visual outcomes. [J Refract Surg. 2025;41(4):e318-e324.].

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is challenging to treat because of its lack of specific molecular targets. The IMMUNOPEG study aimed to evaluate a novel structured method for interpreting TNBC immunohistochemistry specimens processed with VENTANA PD-L1 (SP142) assay. The study involved 10 pathologists who evaluated 50 different immunohistochemistry specimens of TNBC with programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression considered challenging and that were previously evaluated by the scientific committee, using the NAVIFY Digital Pathology platform. Initially, the overall percent agreement (OPA) was 74%, with a negative percent agreement (NPA) of 68.2% for samples classified as negative, and a positive percent agreement (PPA) of 94.5% for positive samples. After training on the method, the OPA improved significantly to 81.6%, with the NPA increasing to 80.5% and the PPA decreasing to 85.5%. The mean percentage of the tumor area occupied by PD-L1-stained immune cells decreased from 2.5% to 1.6% post-training, approaching to the scientific committee's consensus of 1.029%. The study found that the pathologists' confidence in their assessments increased significantly when using the structured method, which was found to be easy to use by 9 out of 10 pathologists. All pathologists agreed that the structured method was useful for assessing PD-L1 expression. The study suggests that this method has potential value in interpreting challenging cases of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) in TNBC. Further refinement and a training protocol may be necessary to enhance the method's efficiency. The potential for generalizing this structured method to other IHC procedures and pathologies warrants additional research.

Treatment with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) can cause obesity and other cardiometabolic disorders linked to D2 receptor (DRD2) and to genotypes affecting dopaminergic (DA) activity, within reward circuits. We explored the relationship of cardiometabolic alterations with single genetic polymorphisms DRD2 rs1799732 (NG_008841.1:g.4750dup -> C), DRD2 rs6277 (NG_008841.1:g.67543C>T), COMT rs4680 (NG_011526.1:g.27009G>A), and VNTR in both DRD4 NC_000011.10 (637269-640706) and DAT1 NC_000005.10 (1392794-1445440), as well as with a multilocus genetic profile score (MLGP). A total of 285 psychiatric patients treated with SGAs for at least three months were selected. Cardiometabolic parameters were classified according to ATP-III and WHO criteria. Blood samples were taken for routinely biochemical assays and PCR genotyping. Obesity (BMI, waist (W)), high diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) were present in those genetic variants related to low dopaminergic activity: InsIns genotype in rs1799732 (BMI: OR: 2.91 [1.42–5.94]), DRD4-VNTR-L allele (W: OR: 1.73 [1.04–2.87]) and 9R9R variant in DAT1-VNTR (W: OR: 2.73 [1.16–6.40]; high DBP: OR: 3.33 [1.54–7.31]; HTG: OR: 4.38 [1.85–10.36]). A low MLGP score indicated a higher risk of suffering cardiometabolic disorders (BMI: OR: 1.23 [1.05–1.45]; W: OR: 1.18 [1.03–1.34]; high DBP: OR: 1.22 [1.06–1.41]; HTG: OR: 1.20 [1.04–1.39]). The MLGP score was more sensitive for detecting the risk of suffering these alterations. Low dopaminergic system function would contribute to increased obesity, BDP, and HTG following long-term SGA treatment.

To meet the ever-increasing user demand, eleven of the fifteen European Spallation Source (ESS) instruments under construction aim to offer polarised neutrons for user experiments. They include an imaging instrument, a SANS instruments, two reflectometers, three diffractometers, and four spectrometers. In conjunction with in-kind contributions and instrumentation grants, the ESS Polarisation Project will support the incorporation of polarisation analysis on eight of the eleven instruments. The project aims to deliver polarised neutrons for first-science experiments as instruments enter operation. Different polariser and polarisation analyser techniques will be available to accommodate the specifics of experiments on a given instrument. Polarised 3He neutron spin filter using either Metastable Optical Pumping (MEOP) or Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping (SEOP) techniques will provide shared-use equipment among many instruments, with SEOP’s main application being in situ beam-polarisation. Several instruments will also use polarising-supermirror devices. To provide wide-bandwidth spin-flipping capability to the time-of-flight instruments, Adiabatic Fast Passage (AFP) neutron spin flippers, also known as gradient-field radiofrequency spin flippers will be the main method of choice. Devices based on the same AFP principle will also be used to flip 3He nuclear spins. We are constructing our first 3He polariser setup, including field coils to produce highly uniform magnetic field. Monte Carlo simulations are being done for the supermirror polarisers. To ensure science-focused development, we are working with university partners in doing scientific experiments with polarised neutrons. These are some of the activities developing polarisation analysis for ESS instruments in our project.

In late 2021 through mid 2022, the first protons were accelerated and transported through the European Spallation Source (ESS) Radio Frequency Quadrupole and Medium Energy Transport line at 3.6 MeV, and finally through the first Drift Tube Linac tank at 21 MeV. To enable these achievements, the following beam instrumentation systems were deployed: Ion Source power supply monitors, beam chopping systems, Faraday Cups, Beam Current Monitors (BCM) and Beam Position Monitors (BPM) that also measured phase. Additional systems were deployed for dedicated studies, including Wire Scanners, a slit and grid Emittance Measurement Unit, neutron Beam Loss Monitors and fast BCM and BPM systems. The instrumentation deployment is the culmination of efforts by a partnership of the ESS beam diagnostics section, multiple ESS groups and institutes across the globe. This paper summarizes the beam tests that characterized the performance of the instrumentation systems and verified the achievement of commissioning goals.

The fixed-energy window scan approach, for both elastic and inelastic modes, is a valuable tool to discriminate between motions activated when dynamical phase transitions occur in a sample as a function of time, temperature, pressure, electrical field or illumination. Considering that, on one hand, such variations can generate a weak signal, and on the other, high data throughput makes it possible to screen many samples during a beam time, pulse multiplication is an ideal strategy to optimize the intensity of the analyzed signal. To ensure this capability, a proposal for a future upgrade of MIRACLES, the neutron time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer at the European Spallation Source (ESS) under construction in Lund, is reported in this article. The concept for a new chopper layout relies on the extraction of several elastic pulses, ensuring an increase in the neutron total elastic intensity hitting the sample. This proposal can be extended to the inelastic counterpart. The premise is to maintain the original beamline layout without modification, either of the guide sections or of the current chopper layout of MIRACLES, thereby guaranteeing that minimal changes and impact will occur during the proposed upgrade. However, this also presents a significant challenge, namely, to achieve an efficient pulse multiplication within the width and the length of the guide and within the rising/decay time of the pulses. With the concept presented here, an increase in elastic intensity by a factor of 2.8 was obtained. This is analogous to performing elastic fixed window (EFW) measurements with an ESS source operating at 14 MW, widening considerably the performance capabilities of MIRACLES. The knowledge generated here is also valuable for the design of scientific instruments for the next generation of low-energy, accelerator-driven neutron sources.

IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Fa-cility) is an accelerator-driven neutron source aiming at testing fusion reactor materials. Under the Broader Ap-proach Agreement, a 125 mA / 9 MeV CW deuteron accelerator called LIPAc (Linear IFMIF Prototype Accel-erator) is currently under installation and commissioning at Rokkasho, Japan, to validate the IFMIF accelerator. During the beam commissioning at 5 MeV which started in June 2018, the horizontal and vertical transverse emit-tance of a 2.5 MeV proton beam have been measured downstream of the RFQ for different machine configura-tions. Such measurements were done with an emittance measurement unit composed of slits defining a beamlet of 200 µm width, then of steerers and finally of a SEM grids monitor. In this paper, the process and the system are first described. The secondary electron emission of SEM-Grid wires is then estimated based on measure-ments and results are close to the usual rule of thumb. Finally, emittance measurements are presented and comparisons with beam dynamics simulations show good agreement.

In summer 2019 the IFMIF/EVEDA Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerated its nominal 125 mA deuteron beam current up to 5 MeV, with 90% transmission for pulses of 1 ms at 1Hz. The Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) is a high intensity deuteron linear accelerator; it is the demonstrator of the International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility (IFMIF). In particular the RFQ is the longest and most powerful ever operated. An intense campaign of measurements have been performed in Rokkasho to characterize several performances of this complex machine: transmission, emittances, energy spectrum and beam loading. The history and the results of the commissioning until this important project milestone are here described. An overview of the activities planned to reach CW operation is also presented.