Operators of a solar-thermal power plant bear a high responsibility as they are in charge of the plant integrity, the safety of staff and optimal performance. At the same time, the complexity of such plants is very high. Thus, skilled operators are needed to understand what they do and, especially, how to react in non-standard plant conditions. Training the operators for these situations is very important for trouble-free operation. Those items become particularly crucial for testing of parabolic trough plants with molten salt as working fluid, as they inherit the danger of HTF freezing at normal ambient conditions. DLR developed a training simulation software as a platform to train the operators in dealing with various scenarios and test automation concepts for plant control for the test facility in the HPS2 project. The simulator software features a detailed model for transient simulation of the solar field based on DLR's Virtual Solar Field (VSF), a simulator management system and a human-machine interface (HMI). VSF communicates via a standard TCP/IP interface with the simulator management. The plant model features detailed modelling of the hydraulic network and storage system, alarm functions and control logics derived from the functionality of the test plant. The HMI is designed according to the real process control software. Simulations with measured weather data validated the correct behavior of the physical models. To understand the behavior of the plant, the plant model can be completely manually operated. Various weather scenarios can be loaded to show difficulties of transient situations, like a sudden direct normal irradiation (DNI) rise or drop. This enables the trainer to show real operation scenarios of the molten salt plant during the training course without endangering the test facility.
BackgroundThe B-cell-depleting anti-CD20 antibody rituximab (RTX) is often used as an adjuvant drug for the treatment of refractory cases of mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP).ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the therapeutic effectiveness and the safety profile of RTX in MMP.MethodsThe medical records of all cases of MMP treated with RTX between 2008 and 2019 in our university medical center located in northern Germany, which specialized in autoimmune blistering skin diseases, were retrieved and systemically analyzed for treatment responses and potential adverse events over a median period of 27 months.ResultsWe identified 18 MMP patients who received at least one cycle of RTX to treat MMP. RTX was always used as an adjuvant treatment, and its application did not change concomitant treatments. Under treatment with RTX, 67% of the patients achieved an improvement in their disease activity within 6 months. This was also reflected in a statistically significant reduction in the Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid Disease Index (MMPDAI) activity score. The frequency of infections under RTX treatment increased only slightly.ConclusionsThe use of RTX is associated with an attenuation of MMP in a large proportion of MMP patients in our study. At the same time, its application was not found to further increase the susceptibility of the most strongly immunocompromised population of MMP patients to opportunistic infections. Collectively, our results suggest that the potential benefits of RTX outweigh its risks in patients with refractory MMP.
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