Tight focusing with very small f-numbers is necessary to achieve the highest at-focus irradiances. However, tight focusing imposes strong demands on precise target positioning in-focus to achieve the highest on-target irradiance. We describe several near-infrared, visible, ultraviolet and soft and hard X-ray diagnostics employed in a ∼1022 W/cm2 laser–plasma experiment. We used nearly 10 J total energy femtosecond laser pulses focused into an approximately 1.3-μm focal spot on 5–20 μm thick stainless-steel targets. We discuss the applicability of these diagnostics to determine the best in-focus target position with approximately 5 μm accuracy (i.e., around half of the short Rayleigh length) and show that several diagnostics (in particular, 3$\omega$ reflection and on-axis hard X-rays) can ensure this accuracy. We demonstrated target positioning within several micrometers from the focus, ensuring over 80% of the ideal peak laser intensity on-target. Our approach is relatively fast (it requires 10–20 laser shots) and does not rely on the coincidence of low-power and high-power focal planes.

Variability in antidepressant response is due to genetic and environmental factors. Among genetic factors, the ones controlling for availability of the drug at the target site are interesting candidates. Rs6295C/G SNP for 5-HT1A gene (HTR1A) has been found to effect the expression and function of HTR1A In fact rs6295C/G was in strong linkage disequilibrium with other polymorphisms of HTR1A suggesting that those functional effects could be associated with polymorphisms other than the synonymous rs6295C/G. In the present study we examine the possible association of a panel of markers in strong linkage disequilibrium of the HTR1A with SSRI/SNRI response in 137 Japanese major depression sample followed for 6 weeks. We observed the significant association of better response to antidepressant with rs10042486C/C (p<0.0001), rs6295G/G (p<0.0001) and rs1364043T/T (p=0.018) genotype carriers, that is mutant allele homozygote, independently from clinical variables. Furthermore mutant allele homozygote carriers in all these 3 SNPs was associated more solidly with treatment response by various assessment such as HAM-D score change over time (p=0.001), week 2 (p<0.0001), 4(p=0.007), and 6(p=0.048) as well as response rate (p=0.0005) and remission rate (p=0.004).

In conclusion, this is the first study that reports the significant association of antidepressant response with rs10042486C/T and rs1364043G/T variants of HTR1A and also with rs10042486-rs6295-rs1364043 combination. This finding adds an important piece of information for the pathway of detecting the genetics of antidepressant response even if results must be verified on larger samples.

In this study, direct numerical simulation of the flow around a rotating sphere at high Mach and low Reynolds numbers is conducted to investigate the effects of rotation rate and Mach number upon aerodynamic force coefficients and wake structures. The simulation is carried out by solving the three-dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equations. A free-stream Reynolds number (based on the free-stream velocity, density and viscosity coefficient and the diameter of the sphere) is set to be between 100 and 300, the free-stream Mach number is set to be between 0.2 and 2.0, and the dimensionless rotation rate defined by the ratio of the free-stream and surface velocities above the equator is set between 0.0 and 1.0. Thus, we have clarified the following points: (1) as free-stream Mach number increased, the increment of the lift coefficient due to rotation was reduced; (2) under subsonic conditions, the drag coefficient increased with increase of the rotation rate, whereas under supersonic conditions, the increment of the drag coefficient was reduced with increasing Mach number; and (3) the mode of the wake structure becomes low-Reynolds-number-like as the Mach number is increased.

Infrared spectroscopy was performed on a thin section of a chalcedonic quartz at high temperature in order to investigate the states and diffusivity of intergranular water. The sample contained 0.3 wt.% of silanol (Si—OH) and 0.3 wt.% of molecular H2O, located mainly at intergranular regions but also as fluid inclusions. We monitored the diffusion of molecular H2O associated with dehydration by in situ analyses at 350—500°C and determined the bulk-diffusion coefficients as expressed by an Arrhenius relationship: Dbulk (m2 sec—1) = 10—4.5 exp(—107±17/RT), where R is the gas coefficient and T the temperature. The activation energy for our sample is similar to those previously reported for diffusion in quartz aggregates with incompletely-connected grain boundaries. This result and our previous measurements of electrical conductivity imply that diffusion of molecular H2O at incompletely- connected intergranular regions is the main mechanism for the dehydration. The diffusion coefficients in chalcedony are larger than those previously reported for rhyolitic glass and other granular aggregates. Intergranular regions, inherent larger pores and cracks created during heating can act as efficient diffusion paths within the chalcedony.

The interaction of femtosecond ultra-intense laser pulses with clusters increases absorption of the incident laser light compared with the interaction with solid targets and leads to enhanced generation of different quantum beams with unique parameters. Future investigations of such interaction urgently need detailed modeling and optimization of cluster parameters, for instance, in order to obtain the clusters with desired size, or some specific spatial configuration of the target etc. A numerical model of gas-cluster targets production by the nozzle flows of gases and binary mixtures is presented. Some previous results of the model utilization are summarized, and some new results are given. Techniques of experimental verification of the numerical results are discussed.

Sustainable commercial use of native wildlife is an alternative economic means of land use by Indigenous people in remote rural areas. This situation applies within large tracts of land owned by Indigenous people across northern Australia. The commercial use of saltwater crocodiles Crocodylus porosus is a growing industry in Australia's Northern Territory. Although Indigenous people sell crocodile eggs and hatchlings, the majority of harvesting and incubation is done by non-indigenous people from less remote areas. One Indigenous community has been heavily involved in this industry and now manages its own harvest and incubation programme. We present a case study of this programme, which has transitioned from outside agencies managing the harvest, to complete local ownership and management. Egg harvests and incubation success rates declined by 40% following the switch to local management. Income increased, as did production costs; in particular, royalty payments made to Indigenous landowners. The declines reflect the community's motives for engaging in the industry, which have been socially rather than commercially driven, and damage to nesting habitat by feral animals. The increase in royalties reflects the need to compete with non-indigenous harvesters from outside the township, who are strictly commercially driven. Harvesting, incubation and trade in crocodile eggs and hatchlings can form a viable and sustainable enterprise for remote Indigenous communities. However, efficiency needs to be improved to fulfil the need for a reliable and dependable supply chain, and regulatory institutions should give Indigenous harvesters sufficient freedom to pursue innovative and viable livelihood options.

This paper describes an overview of our recent discovery – clear demonstration that LiF crystals can be efficiently used as a high-performance neutron imaging detector based on optically stimulated luminescence of color centers generated by neutron irradiation. It is shown that the neutron images we have obtained are almost free from granular noise, have a spatial resolution of ${\sim}5.4~{\rm\mu}\text{m}$ and a linear response with a dynamic range of at least $10^{3}$. The high contrast and good sensitivity of LiF crystals allow us to distinguish two holes with less than 2% transmittance difference. We propose to use such detectors in areas where high spatial resolution with high image gradation resolution is needed, including diagnostics of different plasma sources such as laser and z-pinch produced plasmas.

The superbubble (SB) 30 Dor C with the strong non-thermal X-ray emission is one of the best targets for study of the cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration. We investigated X-ray spectral properties of the SB with a high spatial resolution of ~10 pc. Consequently, the spectra in the east regions can be described with a combination of absorbed thermal and non-thermal models while the spectra in the west regions can be fitted with an absorbed non-thermal model. We found that the observed photon index and intensity in 2-10 keV show variations of 2.0-3.5 and (0.6-8.0) × 10−7 erg s−1 cm−2 str−1, respectively. The results are possibly caused by the spatial variation of the CR acceleration efficiency and/or the circumstellar environment.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

It is shown that various spectroscopic methods based on measurements of X-ray spectra radiated from cluster targets can be used for estimation of the destruction degree of clusters by laser prepulses. These methods allow insight to be gained regarding the important issue of preservation of the dense cluster core at the moment of the arrival of the main laser pulse. In addition, they can be used for quantitative estimation of the size of the undestroyed parts of the clusters and also for measuring the temperature and density of the preplasmas produced by the laser prepulses.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

The Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) is composed of many Filamentary Discharges (FDs), and it can be applied to ozone generation, gaseous pollution control, etc. In our laboratory, we investigated efficient cleaning methods of diesel exhaust gas by DBD. From the results of numerical simulation of chemical reactions, a homogeneous DBD was expected to improve the efficiency of pollution control and also the ozone yield. Recently, we found that a DBD device using alumina as barrier material can generate an Atmospheric Pressure Townsend Discharge (APTD) in air. In this research, we setup two ozonizers with different discharge modes of FD and APTD, and compared the ozone yield. The experimental results showed that the ozone yield was higher by the FD mode than by the APTD mode in lower Specific Input Energy (SIE) region. However in the region that the SIE is larger than 420J/L, the APTD mode showed higher ozone yield than FD mode.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.