Wyoming bentonite, Fithian illite, and basalt from the Umtanum Formation, Washington, were treated hydrothermally at 200° to 460°C and 260 to 500 bars for 71 to 584 days. No change was detected for the bentonite and basalt, except for the loss of calcite and exchange of Ca for K in the smectite and the growth of a small amount of smectite (presumably from a glass phase) in the basalt. Calcite in the initial bentonite may have stabilized the smectite by Ca/K exchange; thus, if the latter is used as a packing material in a nuclear waste repository, limestone should be added. No change was detected in the illite samples treated <300°C; however, at 360°C, euhedral crystals of berthierine and illite grew at the expense of original illite/smectite, apparently by a solution-crystallization process. Significant changes involving the dissolution of starting phases and the formation of illite and chlorite were also detected in mixtures of basalt and bentonite at 400°C; at temperatures <400°C, no changes were observed.

The newly formed mineral phases (berthierine, illite, and chlorite) observed by transmission electron microscopy showed euhedral to subhedral shapes. These shapes are the same as those observed in hydrothermally altered sediments from the Salton Sea field and different from those from burial metamorphic environments, such as Gulf Coast sediments. The reaction mechanism is apparently the dissolution of reactants followed by the crystallization of products from solution, without conservation of structural elements of the reactants. Reactions apparently required temperatures greater than those for analogous changes in nature, suggesting that the degree of reaction was controlled by kinetics. The lack of dissolution in experimental runs at low temperatures, however, does not necessarily imply long-term stabilities of these clay minerals.

Facing increasing nonrenewable and environmental concerns with fossil power generation, renewable energy is being supported by government mechanisms. With the power generation cost of renewables generally higher than fossil fuels, determining the optimal level of these mechanisms requires an understanding of households’ prosocial behavior toward renewables. The issue is determining the magnitude households are willing to pay (WTP) for alternative renewables. Our hypothesis is this behavior varies by the type of renewable energy. As a test of this hypothesis, we apply a discrete choice experiment to measure households’ WTP. Results support our hypothesis with a positive WTP for solar energy, leading to a 62% reduction in solar subsidy, and a negative WTP for biomass and wind sources.

Terahertz (THz) radiation from a plasma cylinder with embedded radial electric and axial magnetic fields is investigated. The plasma density and the electric and magnetic fields are such that the electron plasma frequency is near the electron cyclotron frequency and in the THz regime. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the plasma electrons oscillate not only in the azimuthal direction but also in the radial direction. Spectral analysis shows that the resulting oscillating current pattern has a clearly defined characteristic frequency near the electron cyclotron frequency, suggesting resonance between the cyclotron and plasma oscillations. The resulting far-field THz radiation in the axial direction is also discussed.

Traditional active flutter suppression controllers are designed based on model. However, as the aircraft becomes more and more powerful, the modeling of aeroelastic system becomes difficult and the model-free requirement of controller design becomes more and more urgent. The complexity of industrial processes has brought about massive operational data generated online. Aviation industry development has entered the era of big data. Breaking through the traditional theoretical framework, mining the correlation, evolution and dynamic characteristics of the system from the data is the inevitable choice to meet this demand. In this paper, a data-driven model-free controller is designed, which relies on ridge regression of the input and output variation at each operating point of the closed-loop controlled system to recursively derive the iterative format of the control signals and ensure the numerical stability of the signals. The controller can only use the real-time measurement of the system’s online input and output data for continuous correction, to achieve the purpose of flutter suppression. Then flutter suppression of a three-degree-of-freedom binary wing with a control surface is studied, and the superiority of model-free controller is demonstrated by comparing it with the optimal controller.

The roll waves in open-channel flow on steep slopes can strike an obstacle with great force. We conducted two-dimensional shallow-water simulations to study the impact force of the waves against structures of various shapes and orientations. The focus is on the front runner of a wave packet developed from spatial instability. The numerical results include the stand-off distance of the bow shock wave, the front face's run-up height and the wave force on the obstacle. The strength of the impact depends on the Froude number of the undisturbed flow and the obstacle's distance from the local disturbance but not much on the form of the perturbation that initiates the instability. The wave force could reach a peak of more than an order of magnitude greater than the force on the structure without the roll waves. However, an obstacle with a sharp and pointy front can deflect the incident waves, significantly reducing the impact force.

Physicians with postgraduate training in caring for older adults–geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, and Care of the Elderly family physicians (FM-COE)–have expertise in managing complex care needs. Deficits in the geriatric-focused physician workforce coupled with the aging demographic necessitate an increase in training and clinical positions. Descriptive analyses of data from established matching systems have not occurred to understand the preferences and outcomes of applicants to geriatric-focused postgraduate training. This study describes applicant and match trends for geriatric-focused postgraduate training in Canada. In this retrospective cohort study, data from the Canadian Resident Matching Service and FM-COE program directors were analysed to examine program quotas, applicants’ preferences, and match outcomes by medical school and over time. Based on their first-choice specialty ranking, applicants to geriatric medicine and FM-COE signalled a preference to pursue these programs and tended to match successfully. The proportion of unfilled training positions has increased in recent years, and the number of applicants has not increased consistently over time. There is a disparity between applicants to geriatric-focused training and the health human resources to meet population-level needs. Garnering interest among medical trainees is essential to address access and equity gaps.

This research examines maternal smoking during pregnancy and risk for poorer executive function in siblings discordant for exposure. Data (N = 173 families) were drawn from the Missouri Mothers and Their Children study, a sample, identified using birth records (years 1998–2005), in which mothers changed smoking behavior between two pregnancies (Child 1 [older sibling]: Mage = 12.99; Child 2 [younger sibling]: Mage = 10.19). A sibling comparison approach was used, providing a robust test for the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and different aspects of executive function in early-mid adolescence. Results suggested within-family (i.e., potentially causal) associations between maternal smoking during pregnancy and one working memory task (visual working memory) and one response inhibition task (color-word interference), with increased exposure associated with decreased performance. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was not associated with stop-signal reaction time, cognitive flexibility/set-shifting, or auditory working memory. Initial within-family associations between maternal smoking during pregnancy and visual working memory as well as color-word interference were fully attenuated in a model including child and familial covariates. These findings indicate that exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy may be associated with poorer performance on some, but not all skills assessed; however, familial transmission of risk for low executive function appears more important.

Paediatric fatty liver disease (FLD) can develop into steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in adulthood. We assessed if early life physical exercise reduced the effects of high-fat (HF) diet-induced steatosis. Male HF-fed rats with access to a running wheel from weaning until day (D)60 (early exercise) or from D67 to D120 (late exercise) were compared with control HF- or chow-fed groups with no wheel. At D63 and D120, liver histopathology (Kleiner score), type I collagen and plasma enzymes were assessed. At D63, early life activity significantly reduced histopathology scores (total, portal inflammation, steatosis, ballooning, but not lobular inflammation or fibrosis) and the number of rats affected. At D120, HF control scores were higher than in chow-fed controls, but the effect of activity was selective: early exercise reduced portal inflammation, steatosis, ballooning and fibrosis, but late activity affected only portal inflammation and ballooning. The chow-fed portal inflammation score was significantly less than all HF groups, but lobular inflammation was lower in the HF control group only. The fibrosis score in the HF early exercise and control chow group were lower than in the late exercise and sedentary HF groups, indicating that early life exercise was more effective than when activity was introduced later in life. Plasma biomarkers showed minor between-group differences. The retained effect on liver histopathology rat at D120 after only early life exposure activity suggests that timing of introduction of exercise is critical in reducing FLD scores and prevalence in children, young adults and possibly into adulthood.

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.