We discuss the modal, linear stability analysis of generalized Couette–Poiseuille (GCP) flow between two parallel plates moving with relative speed in the presence of an applied pressure gradient vector inclined at an angle $0\leqslant \phi \leqslant 90^\circ$ to the plate relative velocity vector. All possible GCP flows can be described by a global Reynolds number $Re$, $\phi$ and an angle $0\leqslant \theta \leqslant 90^\circ$, where $\cos \theta$ is a measure of the relative weighting of Couette flow to the composite GCP flow. This provides a novel and uncommon group of generally three-dimensional base velocity fields with wall-normal twist, for which Squire's theorem does not generally apply, requiring study of oblique perturbations with wavenumbers $(\alpha,\beta )$. With $(\theta,\phi )$ fixed, the neutral surface $f(\theta,\phi ;Re,\alpha,\beta )=0$ in $(Re, \alpha,\beta )$ space is discussed. A mapping from GCP to plane Couette–Poiseuille flow stability is found that suggests a scaling relation $Re^*\alpha /k = H(\theta ^*)$ that collapses all critical parameters, where ${Re}^*= Re\,({\alpha _1}/{\alpha })\,({\sin \theta }/{\sin {\theta }^*})$ and $\tan \theta ^*=({\alpha _{1}}/\alpha )\tan \theta$, with $\alpha _1=\alpha \cos \phi +\beta \sin \phi$. This analysis does not, however, directly reveal global critical properties for GCP flow. The global $Re_{cr}(\theta,\phi )$ shows continuous variation, while $\alpha _{cr}(\theta,\phi )$ and $\beta _{cr}(\theta,\phi )$ show complex behaviour, including discontinuities owing to jumping of critical states across neighbouring local valleys (in $Re$) or lobes of the neutral surface. The discontinuity behaviour exists for all low $\phi$. For $\phi \gtrsim 21^\circ$, variations of $\alpha _{cr}(\theta )$ and $\beta _{cr}(\theta )$ are generally smooth and monotonic.

The laboratory generation and diagnosis of uniform near-critical-density (NCD) plasmas play critical roles in various studies and applications, such as fusion science, high energy density physics, astrophysics as well as relativistic electron beam generation. Here we successfully generated the quasistatic NCD plasma sample by heating a low-density tri-cellulose acetate (TCA) foam with the high-power-laser-driven hohlraum radiation. The temperature of the hohlraum is determined to be 20 eV by analyzing the spectra obtained with the transmission grating spectrometer. The single-order diffraction grating was employed to eliminate the high-order disturbance. The temperature of the heated foam is determined to be T = 16.8 ± 1.1 eV by analyzing the high-resolution spectra obtained with a flat-field grating spectrometer. The electron density of the heated foam is about $N_e=4.0\pm 0.3\times {10}^{20}{\text{cm}}^{-3}$ under the reasonable assumption of constant mass density.

In preparation for an experiment with a laser-generated intense proton beam at the Laser Fusion Research Center at Mianyang to investigate the 11B(p,α)2α reaction, we performed a measurement at very low proton energy between 140 keV and 172 keV using the high-voltage platform at the Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou. The aim of the experiment was to test the ability to use CR-39 track detectors for cross-section measurements and to remeasure the cross-section of this reaction close to the first resonance using the thick target approach. We obtained the cross-section σ = 45.6 ± 12.5 mb near 156 keV. Our result confirms the feasibility of CR-39 type track detector for nuclear reaction measurement also in low-energy regions.

The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope has carried out a survey of the entire Southern Sky at 887.5 MHz. The wide area, high angular resolution, and broad bandwidth provided by the low-band Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low) allow the production of a next-generation rotation measure (RM) grid across the entire Southern Sky. Here we introduce this project as Spectral and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). In our first data release, we image 30 RACS-low fields in Stokes I, Q, U at 25$^{\prime\prime}$ angular resolution, across 744–1032 MHz with 1 MHz spectral resolution. Using a bespoke, highly parallelised, software pipeline we are able to rapidly process wide-area spectro-polarimetric ASKAP observations. Notably, we use ‘postage stamp’ cutouts to assess the polarisation properties of 105912 radio components detected in total intensity. We find that our Stokes Q and U images have an rms noise of $\sim$80 $\unicode{x03BC}$Jy PSF$^{-1}$, and our correction for instrumental polarisation leakage allows us to characterise components with $\gtrsim$1% polarisation fraction over most of the field of view. We produce a broadband polarised radio component catalogue that contains 5818 RM measurements over an area of $\sim$1300 deg$^{2}$ with an average error in RM of $1.6^{+1.1}_{-1.0}$ rad m$^{-2}$, and an average linear polarisation fraction $3.4^{+3.0}_{-1.6}$ %. We determine this subset of components using the conditions that the polarised signal-to-noise ratio is $>$8, the polarisation fraction is above our estimated polarised leakage, and the Stokes I spectrum has a reliable model. Our catalogue provides an areal density of $4\pm2$ RMs deg$^{-2}$; an increase of $\sim$4 times over the previous state-of-the-art (Taylor, Stil, Sunstrum 2009, ApJ, 702, 1230). Meaning that, having used just 3% of the RACS-low sky area, we have produced the 3rd largest RM catalogue to date. This catalogue has broad applications for studying astrophysical magnetic fields; notably revealing remarkable structure in the Galactic RM sky. We will explore this Galactic structure in a follow-up paper. We will also apply the techniques described here to produce an all-Southern-sky RM catalogue from RACS observations. Finally, we make our catalogue, spectra, images, and processing pipeline publicly available.

Background: The late-onset cerebellar ataxias (LOCAs) have until recently resisted molecular diagnosis. Contributing to this diagnostic gap is that non-coding structural variations, such as repeat expansions, are not fully accessible to standard short-read sequencing analysis. Methods: We combined bioinformatics analysis of whole-genome sequencing and long-read sequencing to search for repeat expansions in patients with LOCA. We enrolled 66 French-Canadian, 228 German, 20 Australian and 31 Indian patients. Pathogenic mechanisms were studied in post-mortem cerebellum and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neurons from 2 patients. Results: We identified 128 patients who carried an autosomal dominant GAA repeat expansion in the first intron of the FGF14 gene. The expansion was present in 61%, 18%, 15% and 10% of patients in the French-Canadian, German, Australian and Indian cohorts, respectively. The pathogenic threshold was determined to be (GAA)≥250, although incomplete penetrance was observed in the (GAA)250-300 range. Patients developed a slowly progressive cerebellar syndrome at an average age of 59 years. Patient-derived post-mortem cerebellum and induced motor neurons both showed reduction in FGF14 RNA and protein expression compared to controls. Conclusions: This intronic, dominantly inherited GAA repeat expansion in FGF14 represents one of the most common genetic causes of LOCA uncovered to date.

As a typical plasma-based optical element that can sustain ultra-high light intensity, plasma density gratings driven by intense laser pulses have been extensively studied for wide applications. Here, we show that the plasma density grating driven by two intersecting driver laser pulses is not only nonuniform in space but also varies over time. Consequently, the probe laser pulse that passes through such a dynamic plasma density grating will be depolarized, that is, its polarization becomes spatially and temporally variable. More importantly, the laser depolarization may spontaneously take place for crossed laser beams if their polarization angles are arranged properly. The laser depolarization by a dynamic plasma density grating may find application in mitigating parametric instabilities in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion.

The objective of this project was to collect scientific data to assist in the development of guidelines for the humane relocation of threatened and endangered arboreal non-human primate species. A troop of 31 Lowland Sykes monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis albotorquatus) was habituated to fruit bait for capture in a village and relocation to a previously selected suitable site in a protected forest reserve approximately 30 km away. Sixty-five percent (n = 20) of the animals were captured and relocated. This subgroup comprised one adult male, eight adult females, two subadult females, three juvenile males, four juvenile females and two infant males. Although the relocated group originated from one single group, post-translocation telemetry signals demonstrated that it split into two groups, which established themselves approximately 2–4 km apart in their new territory; the adult male eventually became solitary. The factors of importance for the successful capture and relocation of forest primates were found to include: proper understanding of troop home-range utilisation and of social bond organisation within the troop, method and period of habituation, method of release, suitability of the new habitat with respect to the ecological niche requirements of the species in question, and the period of post-relocation monitoring.

Limited studies provide direct evidence of Clonorchis sinensis adults in the early stage of gallbladder stone formation. Our current research systematically studied 33 gallbladder stones resembling adult worms and shed light on the definite connection of C. sinensis infection with concomitant cholelithiasis. A total of 33 gallbladder stones resembling adult C. sinensis worms were systematically analysed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy spectrometry were used to analyse the composition and microstructure. Meanwhile, a histopathological examination of the stone was carried out. The 33 gallbladder stones resembling adult C. sinensis worms included nine calcium carbonate (CaCO3) stones, 12 bilirubinate stones and 12 mixed stones. Clonorchis sinensis eggs were found in 30 cases, including all CaCO3 and mixed stones. Parasite tissues were detected in 12 cases, which were mainly CaCO3 stones or bilirubinate–CaCO3 mixed stones. The outer layer of stones was wrapped with 12.88% calcium salt, as revealed by X-ray energy spectrometry, while surprisingly, many C. sinensis eggs were found in the inner part of these stones. Based on our current findings, we concluded that calcification and packaging occurred after C. sinensis adult entrance into the gallbladder, subsequently leading to the early formation of CaCO3 or bilirubinate–CaCO3 mixed gallbladder stones. This discovery highlights definite evidence for C. sinensis infection causing gallbladder stones.

We present the most sensitive and detailed view of the neutral hydrogen ( ${\rm H\small I}$ ) emission associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), through the combination of data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Parkes (Murriyang), as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (GASKAP) pilot survey. These GASKAP-HI pilot observations, for the first time, reveal ${\rm H\small I}$ in the SMC on similar physical scales as other important tracers of the interstellar medium, such as molecular gas and dust. The resultant image cube possesses an rms noise level of 1.1 K ( $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$ ) $\mathrm{per}\ 0.98\,\mathrm{km\ s}^{-1}$ spectral channel with an angular resolution of $30^{\prime\prime}$ ( ${\sim}10\,\mathrm{pc}$ ). We discuss the calibration scheme and the custom imaging pipeline that utilises a joint deconvolution approach, efficiently distributed across a computing cluster, to accurately recover the emission extending across the entire ${\sim}25\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ field-of-view. We provide an overview of the data products and characterise several aspects including the noise properties as a function of angular resolution and the represented spatial scales by deriving the global transfer function over the full spectral range. A preliminary spatial power spectrum analysis on individual spectral channels reveals that the power law nature of the density distribution extends down to scales of 10 pc. We highlight the scientific potential of these data by comparing the properties of an outflowing high-velocity cloud with previous ASKAP+Parkes ${\rm H\small I}$ test observations.

The long-distance stable transport of relativistic electron beams (REBs) in plasmas is studied by full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Theoretical analysis shows that the beam transport is mainly influenced by three transverse instabilities, where the excitation of self-modulation instability, and the suppression of the filamentation instability and the hosing instability are important to realize the beam stable transport. By modulating the transport parameters such as the electron density ratio, the relativistic Lorentz factor, the beam envelopes and the density profiles, the relativistic bunches having a smooth density profile and a length of several plasma wave periods can suppress the beam-plasma instabilities and propagate in plasmas for long distances with small energy losses. The results provide a reference for the research of long-distance and stable transport of REBs, and would be helpful for new particle beam diagnosis technology and space active experiments.

Background: Adults with obstructive hydrocephalus often present with cognitive and/or gait dysfunction in addition to symptoms of raised ICP. We previously reported improvement of cognitive and gait function 3 months following primary adult ETV. This abstract presents long-term results in this group. Methods: Obstructive hydrocephalus was identified based on tri-ventriculomegaly on CT and/or MRI. Gait velocity (10 m timed gait) and cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA]) were measured at two timepoints: pre-ETV and ≥9 months post-ETV. Results: Sixteen adults underwent primary ETV and completed a long-term assessment. Mean age was 60 years and 10 (63%) were male. Etiology: 10 (62.5%) congenital and 6 (37.5%) acquired. Mean long-term follow-up time for cognitive and gait assessments was 14.4 and 13.7 months, respectively. The long-term MoCA within patient median change was +2 points (n= 15; p = 0.007). Group medians were 23/30 (pre-ETV) and 26/30 (post-ETV). The long-term gait velocity within patient median change was +0.4 m/s (n= 12; p < 0.001). Group medians were 0.7 m/s (pre-ETV) and 1.3 m/s (post-ETV). Conclusions: ETV in adults with obstructive hydrocephalus results in long-term improvement of cognition and gait velocity when assessed ≥9 months post-ETV. Larger cohorts will determine the generalizability of these results. Hydrocephalus Association supported project.