We present the results of global three-dimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the formation of soft X-ray emitting regions in active galactic nuclei by applying a radiation magnetohydrodynamic code based on the M1-closure scheme. The effect of Compton cooling is taken into account. When the surface density of the accretion flow exceeds the upper limit of the radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF), the optically thin, hot accretion flow near the black hole co-exists with the soft X-ray emitting, warm (T = 106 – 107 K) Comptonized region around r = 20 – 40rs, where rs is the Schwarzschild radius. Numerical results indicate that when the accretion rate approaches the Eddington accretion rate, the warm Comptonized region stays in optically thin for effective optical depth, Thomson thick, and radiation pressure dominant state. This region is found to oscillate between a geometrically thin, cool state and a geometrically thick state inflated by radiation pressure. The time variability of the accretion flow is consistent with that of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies.

In the 2015 review paper ‘Petawatt Class Lasers Worldwide’ a comprehensive overview of the current status of high-power facilities of ${>}200~\text{TW}$ was presented. This was largely based on facility specifications, with some description of their uses, for instance in fundamental ultra-high-intensity interactions, secondary source generation, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). With the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to Professors Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou for the development of the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), which made these lasers possible, we celebrate by providing a comprehensive update of the current status of ultra-high-power lasers and demonstrate how the technology has developed. We are now in the era of multi-petawatt facilities coming online, with 100 PW lasers being proposed and even under construction. In addition to this there is a pull towards development of industrial and multi-disciplinary applications, which demands much higher repetition rates, delivering high-average powers with higher efficiencies and the use of alternative wavelengths: mid-IR facilities. So apart from a comprehensive update of the current global status, we want to look at what technologies are to be deployed to get to these new regimes, and some of the critical issues facing their development.

Diaphragm excursion method is unsuitable for diagnosis of diaphragm paralysis during positive pressure ventilation. We diagnosed diaphragm paralysis in a neonate, without interrupting positive pressure respiratory support after cardiac surgery, using the diaphragm thickness fraction, which could be evaluated during mechanical ventilation and was unaffected by bowel gases. The diaphragm thickness fraction method can help diagnose diaphragm dysfunction using only echography.

Lithium thio-phosphorus oxynitride glasses, LiPOSN, have been prepared by mechanical milling process from the mixture of Li2S and LiPON glass. The anionic substitution of oxygen by sulphur and nitrogen in the phosphate glass structure has been confirmed by 1D 31P solid state nuclear magnetic resonance and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The study of thermal and electrical properties reveals a decrease in the glass transition temperature, likely due to the depolymerization of glass network by the decrease of bridging oxygens and sulphurs, along with a sharp increase in the ionic conductivity when lithium sulphide is incorporated into the oxynitride glasses. The improvement of chemical durability by the introduction of nitrogen, together with the increase in ionic conductivity up to values closed to the value of commercial LiPON thin film electrolyte, suggests that these LiPOSN glasses could be good candidates as solid electrolytes for lithium microbatteries.

In the far field of the intensity distribution of the beam delivered by a two-stage transient–collisional excitation X-ray laser (XRL), a non-expected interference pattern that is stable from shot to shot has been discovered. It is demonstrated that the interference is caused by the emergence of an imaginary source in the amplifying plasma, which is phase matched to the radiation of the generator. The observed phenomenon is called an X-ray coherent mirage. To explain the obtained results, a new theoretical approach is developed. The basic essential conditions for formation of the X-ray mirage are formulated, and possible applications are discussed. This paper details the experiments, including the formulation of the necessary and sufficient conditions for formation of the X-ray mirage, and possible applications are discussed.

From radiation magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) simulations we track the temporal evolution of a vertical magnetic flux sheet embedded in a two-dimensional non-stationary atmosphere that reaches all the way from the upper convection zone to the low chromosphere. Examining its temporal behavior near the interface between the convection zone and the photosphere, we describe the excitation of propagating longitudinal waves within the magnetic element as a result of convective motion in its surroundings.

We report the preparation and thermoelectric properties of oriented higher manganese silicide (HMS) with a composition of MnSi1.73 bulk. The grain alignment and densification were achieved by rotating high magnetic field and spark plasma sintering (SPS) techniques, respectively. The easy magnetization axis of MnSi1.73 was found to be c-axis, and the applied magnetic field of 2 T was strong enough to rotate the powder with a mean grain size of 1 μm. The c-axis of grains was oriented when applying the magnetic field, and the degree of orientation was further increased after heat treatment. However, a secondary phase that was mono manganese silicide (MnSi) was observed as a result of oxidation on the surface of synthesized powder. The electrical conductivity of the c-axis oriented specimen along the ab-plane was about 40% larger than that for sample processed only by SPS, while the Seebeck coefficient of oriented and nonoriented specimens showed similar values regardless of existence of the second phase. Consequently, the power factor of the c-axis oriented specimen along the ab-plane was enhanced by about 35% compared to the nonoriented one. The proposed approach is found to be very effective not only in obtaining the oriented materials with nonductility but also in enhancing the thermoelectricity.

We have fabricated pentacene field-effect transistors (FETs) on polyimide-sheet films with polyimide gate dielectric layers and parylene encapsulation layer, and investigated the high-temperature performance. It is found that the mobility of encapsulated FETs is enhanced from 0.5 to 0.8 cm2/Vs when the device is heated from room temperature to 160°C under light-shielding nitrogen environment. Furthermore, after the removal of annealing temperatures up to 160°C, the transistor characteristic of mobility and on/off current ratio show no significant changes, demonstration the excellent thermal stability of the present organic FETs.

A novel preparation method of thin films has been successfully developed by high-density ablation plasma produced by pulsed ion-beam evaporation method. The preparation is available with extremely high deposition rate (with cm/s), without heating the substrate, in a vacuum, with good stoichiometry. As an example, the preparation of phosphoresecent SrAl2O4:Eu, Dy thin films will be shown. Furthermore, a new method has been developed of the synthesis of ultrafine nanosize powders by use of microexplosion of pulsed wire discharge. As an example, the synthesis of NiFe2O4 powders will be shown, where two wires of nickel and iron were exploded by pulsed current. In addition, we have succeeded in the preparation of tungsten thin films within via holes in LSI by use of pulsed ion beam-evaporation method. In addition to the huge power per shot, a new machine has been developed of highly repetitive, pulsed power machine for the industrial applications.

On the subphase, which contains Cd2+ and Mg2+ ions, two-dimensional (2D) J-aggregate crystallites of merocyanine dye molecules exhibit a thermochromic transition. The J-aggregate absorption band of the low (LT) and high temperature (HT) phases are located at 620 and 595 nm, respectively. In order to clarify the in-plane structure of the 2D J-aggregate crystallites, grazing incident X-ray diffraction measurements were performed on the Langmuir-Blodgett multi-layers which consisted of the monolayers of LT and HT phases. It was revealed that the in-plane arrangement of the dye molecules is slightly different in the J-aggregate crystallites of LT and HT phases.