We present an overview of the Middle Ages Galaxy Properties with Integral Field Spectroscopy (MAGPI) survey, a Large Program on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. MAGPI is designed to study the physical drivers of galaxy transformation at a lookback time of 3–4 Gyr, during which the dynamical, morphological, and chemical properties of galaxies are predicted to evolve significantly. The survey uses new medium-deep adaptive optics aided Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of fields selected from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, providing a wealth of publicly available ancillary multi-wavelength data. With these data, MAGPI will map the kinematic and chemical properties of stars and ionised gas for a sample of 60 massive ( ${>}7 \times 10^{10} {\mathrm{M}}_\odot$ ) central galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$ in a representative range of environments (isolated, groups and clusters). The spatial resolution delivered by MUSE with Ground Layer Adaptive Optics ( $0.6-0.8$ arcsec FWHM) will facilitate a direct comparison with Integral Field Spectroscopy surveys of the nearby Universe, such as SAMI and MaNGA, and at higher redshifts using adaptive optics, for example, SINS. In addition to the primary (central) galaxy sample, MAGPI will deliver resolved and unresolved spectra for as many as 150 satellite galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$ , as well as hundreds of emission-line sources at $z < 6$ . This paper outlines the science goals, survey design, and observing strategy of MAGPI. We also present a first look at the MAGPI data, and the theoretical framework to which MAGPI data will be compared using the current generation of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations including EAGLE, Magneticum, HORIZON-AGN, and Illustris-TNG. Our results show that cosmological hydrodynamical simulations make discrepant predictions in the spatially resolved properties of galaxies at $z\approx 0.3$ . MAGPI observations will place new constraints and allow for tangible improvements in galaxy formation theory.

The self or identity is often seriously challenged by the emergence of psychotic symptoms. A first reason for that is most likely due to the traumatic experience caused by the sudden emergence of hallucinations or persecutory ideas that challenge both the representation of oneself and that of the world and others. A second reason is linked to the social consequences of having a mental illness and of being assigned with the label of “mentally ill or disabled person”. A third relates to the patients’ cognitive impairment that alters their ability to take distance from these self-challenging events, to give a meaning to these experiences and to build coherent narratives of their life that integrate a great variety of personal experiences such as turning points or unpleasant events. For these reasons, recovering from a severe mental illness is a process through which the self evolves by integrating the lessons of past personal events, building new representations of oneself and looking to new directions for future projects. Excerpts of patients’ narratives collected in experimental setting will be presented in order to illustrate how indexes of recovery can be measured in self-narratives and how they help identifying the steps of self-recovery that have been identified in qualitative research on patients with schizophrenia .

The search for life in the Universe is a fundamental problem of astrobiology and modern science. The current progress in the detection of terrestrial-type exoplanets has opened a new avenue in the characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres and in the search for biosignatures of life with the upcoming ground-based and space missions. To specify the conditions favourable for the origin, development and sustainment of life as we know it in other worlds, we need to understand the nature of global (astrospheric), and local (atmospheric and surface) environments of exoplanets in the habitable zones (HZs) around G-K-M dwarf stars including our young Sun. Global environment is formed by propagated disturbances from the planet-hosting stars in the form of stellar flares, coronal mass ejections, energetic particles and winds collectively known as astrospheric space weather. Its characterization will help in understanding how an exoplanetary ecosystem interacts with its host star, as well as in the specification of the physical, chemical and biochemical conditions that can create favourable and/or detrimental conditions for planetary climate and habitability along with evolution of planetary internal dynamics over geological timescales. A key linkage of (astro)physical, chemical and geological processes can only be understood in the framework of interdisciplinary studies with the incorporation of progress in heliophysics, astrophysics, planetary and Earth sciences. The assessment of the impacts of host stars on the climate and habitability of terrestrial (exo)planets will significantly expand the current definition of the HZ to the biogenic zone and provide new observational strategies for searching for signatures of life. The major goal of this paper is to describe and discuss the current status and recent progress in this interdisciplinary field in light of presentations and discussions during the NASA Nexus for Exoplanetary System Science funded workshop ‘Exoplanetary Space Weather, Climate and Habitability’ and to provide a new roadmap for the future development of the emerging field of exoplanetary science and astrobiology.

Surface radiocarbon (Δ14C) in the North Pacific has been monitored using a commercial volunteer observation ship since the early 2000s. Here we report the temporal and spatial variations in Δ14C in the summer surface water when the surface ocean is vertically stratified over a 13-yr period, 2004–2016. The long-term Δ14C decreasing trend after the late 1970s in the subtropical region has continued to the present and the rate of decrease of the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension, North Pacific and California current areas is calculated to be –3.3, –5.2 and –3.3 ‰/yr, respectively. After 2012 the Δ14C of the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension area, however, has remained at an approximately constant value of around 50‰. The result may indicate that subtropical surface Δ14C in the western North Pacific has reached an equilibrium with atmospheric Δ14CO2. The Δ14C in the subarctic region is markedly lower than values in the subtropical region and it seems that the decreasing tendency of surface Δ14C has changed to an increasing tendency after 2010. The results may indicate that bomb-produced 14C, which has accumulated below the mixed layer in the past few decades, has been entrained into the surface layer by deep convection.

During the installation of the buffer in a deposition hole of an HLW repository, it is necessary to control water flow from the fractured rock into the deposition hole. Water flow with inflow rate greater than 0.001 l/min may cause piping and erosion of the buffer, and may trigger mass redistribution of the buffer, sedimentation and material separation of bentonite materials. This paper describes the condition of parameters which cause piping and erosion; revised conditions which keep advection, inflow rate, buffer component, gap between buffer materials, gap between outside wall and buffer block, and type of water. The results from the experiment show the condition of the self-sealing function of bentonite materials, formation of piping, allowable limit of inflow rate in the case of an Na type bentonite block of 70 wt.% Kunigel V1 and 30 wt.% silica sand, or a pellet of 100 wt.% Kunigel V1. Piping and erosion continue until the engineered barrier (EB) is filled with water, and then the hydraulic gradient becomes small. Piping may lead to erosion and redistribution of material which needs to be taken into account in the long-term performance assessment.

In order to evaluate the long-term behaviour of the engineered barriers in geological disposal sites for transuranic element-bearing (TRU) waste, an evaluation by numerical analysis is required. Although chemical and hydraulic/mechanical analyses have been conducted independently until now, essentially both type of phenomena occur simultaneously and produce synergistic effects. Therefore, we focused attention on the buffer (bentonite) engineered barrier and conducted a study of which involved incorporating hydraulic/mechanical phenomena into the chemical analysis of bentonite alteration. The simulations employed weakly-coupled chemical and hydraulic/mechanical effects to study the behaviour in one dimension.

The results showed that the dissolution of the montmorillonite is suppressed in the buffer section nearest the cement material. Moreover, in order to achieve a fully coupled analysis in future, the present study also identifies issues that need to be resolved.

Here, we describe a new microsporidium Percutemincola moriokae gen. nov., sp. nov., which was discovered in the intestinal and hypodermal cells of a wild strain of the nematode Oscheius tipulae that inhabits in the soil of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The spores of Pe. moriokae had an average size of 1.0 × 3.8 µm and 1.3 × 3.2 µm in the intestine and hypodermis, respectively, and electron microscopy revealed that they exhibited distinguishing features with morphological diversity in the hypodermis. Isolated spores were able to infect a reference strain of O. tipulae (CEW1) through horizontal transmission but not the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Upon infection, the spores were first observed in the hypodermis and then in the intestine the following day, suggesting a unique infectious route among nematode-infective microsporidia. Molecular phylogenetic analysis grouped this new species with the recently identified nematode-infective parasites Enteropsectra and Pancytospora forming a monophyletic sister clade to Orthosomella in clade IV, which also includes human pathogens such as Enterocytozoon and Vittaforma. We believe that this newly discovered species and its host could have application as a new model in microsporidia–nematode association studies.

We report on the formation of shallow junctions with high activation in both n+/p and p+/n Ge junctions using ion implantation and Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA). The shallowest junction depths (Xj) formed for the n+/p and p+/n junctions were 7.6 nm and 6.1 nm with sheet resistances (Rs) of 860 ohms/sq. and 704 ohms/sq., respectively. By reducing knocked-on oxygen during ion implantation in the n+/p junctions, Rs was decreased by between 5% and 15%. The lowest Rs observed was 235 ohms/sq. with a junction depth of 21.5 nm. Hall measurements clearly revealed that knocked-on oxygen degraded phosphorus activation (carrier concentration). In the p+/n Ge junctions, we show that ion implantation damage induced high boron activation. Using this technique, Rs can be reduced from 475 ohms/sq. to 349 ohms/sq. These results indicate that the potential for forming ultra-shallow n+/p and p+/n junctions in the nanometer range in Ge devices using FLA is very high, leading to realistic monolithically-integrated Ge CMOS devices that can take us beyond Si technology.

Dengue fever (DF) and leptospirosis are serious public problems in tropical regions, especially in Manila, the Philippines. In attempting to understand the causes of DF and leptospirosis seasonality, meteorological factors have been suspected, but quantitative correlation between seasonality and meteorological factors has not been fully investigated. In this study, we investigated correlation of temporal patterns of reported numbers of laboratory-confirmed cases of both DF and leptospirosis with meteorological conditions (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall) in Manila. We used time-series analysis combined with spectral analysis and the least squares method. A 1-year cycle explained underlying variations of DF, leptospirosis and meteorological data. There was a peak of the 1-year cycle in temperature during May, followed by maxima in rainfall, relative humidity and number of laboratory-confirmed DF and leptospirosis cases. This result suggests that DF and leptospirosis epidemics are correlated not only with rainfall but also relative humidity and temperature in the Philippines. Quantifying the correlation of DF and leptospirosis infections with meteorological conditions may prove useful in predicting DF and leptospirosis epidemics, and health services should plan accordingly.

A general-purpose low turbulence wind tunnel was constructed using the design method of Bradshaw. Sound absorbent material was used in every four corners to decrease sound intensity produced by a fan. The longitudinal component of turbulence intensity at the centre of the closed working section is less than 0.02% of the mean velocity in the speed range between 18 m/s arid 53 m/s. The mean velocity variations across the working section are within ±0.1% of the mean velocity.

Performance measurements have been done at representative tunnel cross sections to clarify the behaviour of flow in the tunnel. This work differs from previous studies in the sense that emphasis is placed not only on velocity distributions, but also on turbulence intensity distributions at several cross sections of the tunnel.

The critical Reynolds number for a flat plate at zero incidence, Rec = 3.5 x 106, measured in a stream of the very low turbulence intensity of 0.016%, is larger than that reported by Schubauer and Skramstad.

Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) is used to treat severe childhood-onset epileptic encephalopathies, such as Infantile Spasms (IS). Unfortunately, limited resources for KD initiation result in treatment delays. We ask if earlier KD treatment of early-onset drug-resistant epilepsy results in better seizure outcomes. Methods: Children who started KD before age 4 years between 2000-present at SickKids Hospital were identified. Six-month seizure outcome was calculated as percent of pre-diet baseline seizure frequency (BSF). Results: 67 children were identified. 30 (44.8%) started KD <2 years old, 37 (55.2%) started KD 2-4 years old. Among <2 years old group, 83.3% achieved 50% reduction in BSF and 36.7% achieved 90% reduction. Among 2-4 year old group, 62.2% achieved 50% reduction in BSF and 24.3% achieved 90% reduction. 38 children had a history of IS; 17 with IS at diet initiation and 21 with past history of IS. 41.2% of the spasms cohort achieved 90% reduction in BSF, compared to 23.8% of the post-spasms cohort. Conclusions: KD was more effective when started before age 2 years than 2-4 years, and more effective in children with IS than in children with past history of IS. A rapid protocol for KD initiation in young infants and children may improve long-term outcomes

Cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry in spontaneous gravity wave radiation from a co-rotating vortex pair is investigated in an $f$-plane shallow water system. The far field of gravity waves is derived analytically by analogy with the theory of aeroacoustic sound wave radiation (Lighthill theory). In the derived form, the Earth’s rotation affects not only the propagation of gravity waves but also their source. While the results correspond to the theory of vortex sound in the limit of $f\rightarrow 0$, there is an asymmetry in gravity wave radiation between cyclone pairs and anticyclone pairs for finite values of $f$. Anticyclone pairs radiate gravity waves more intensely than cyclone pairs due to the effect of the Earth’s rotation. In addition, there is a local maximum of intensity of gravity waves from anticyclone pairs at an intermediate $f$. To verify the analytical solution, a numerical simulation is also performed with a newly developed spectral method in an unbounded domain. The novelty of this method is the absence of wave reflection at the boundary due to a conformal mapping and a pseudo-hyperviscosity that acts like a sponge layer in the far field of waves. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with the analytical results even for finite values of $f$ for both cyclone pairs and anticyclone pairs.

Four microseconds long Ar3+ beam with injection energy of 15 keV/u has been injected into the Digital Accelerator of the High-Energy Accelerator Research Organization. Beam production, transportation, and injection are described as well as machine properties. Results of a free running experiment under static magnetic field and longitudinal confinement and acceleration under a fast ramping magnetic field are presented in detail with a brief discussion on the beam lifetime.

Preparation of a sigma-CrFe single-phase specimen was achieved by arc melting of pure Fe and Cr, cold rolling, and subsequent annealing at 973 K or 1073 K in vacuum. Cold rolling before annealing is effective for the annealing-induced formation of sigma-CrFe from the bcc solid-solution phase. The phase stability and the structural change from sigma-CrFe to a bcc solid-solution phase under fast electron irradiation were investigated by in situ transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation in the temperature range between 22 K and 473 K by using an ultra-high voltage electron microscope (UHVEM). The phase transition of sigma-CrFe by fast electron irradiation was found to occur at a particular temperature.

We measured the ATP concentrations in the porcine follicular fluid derived from three sizes of follicles (small: <3 mm, medium: 3–6 mm, large: >6 mm in diameter). Then, the effects of pre-treatment (100 μM each for 30 min before maturation) with antagonists for extracellular ATP receptor P2X or P2Y on the nuclear maturation rate of cumulus-cell-enclosed (COs) or -denuded oocytes (DOs) up to the preovulatory stage in the presence or absence of 20 nM ATP (a similar concentration to that of medium-sized follicle fluid) were investigated. The antagonists used were pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2′,4′-disulfonic acid (PPADS) or reactive blue 2 (RB2), for extracellular ATP receptor P2X and P2Y, respectively. In addition, the embryonic development rates of COs pre-treated with RB2 were also evaluated. It was found that when the follicular sizes increased, the ATP concentrations significantly decreased (P < 0.05). No differences were observed in the nuclear maturation rates among all COs, regardless of pre-treatment with (+) or without (–) PPADS and in the presence (+) or absence (–) of ATP during maturation. In contrast, the nuclear maturation rate of the COs, but not DOs, in the ATP(–) RB2(+) group was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of the ATP(–) RB2(–) and ATP(+)RB2(–) groups. The pronuclear formation and blastocyst formation rates by parthenogenetic activation in the ATP(–) RB2(+) and ATP(+) RB2(+) groups were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those in the ATP(–) RB2(–) group. In conclusion, it is suggested that the nuclear maturation of porcine oocytes may be influenced by the ATP receptor P2Y present in the cumulus cells.