Laser–plasma interaction and hot electrons have been characterized in detail in laser irradiation conditions relevant for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion. The experiment was carried out at the Gekko XII laser facility in multibeam planar target geometry at an intensity of approximately $3\times {10}^{15}$ W/cm2. Experimental data suggest that high-energy electrons, with temperatures of 20–50 keV and conversion efficiencies of $\eta <1\%$, were mainly produced by the damping of electron plasma waves driven by two-plasmon decay (TPD). Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is observed in a near-threshold growth regime, producing a reflectivity of approximately $0.01\%$, and is well described by an analytical model accounting for the convective growth in independent speckles. The experiment reveals that both TPD and SRS are collectively driven by multiple beams, resulting in a more vigorous growth than that driven by single-beam laser intensity.

We report results and modelling of an experiment performed at the Target Area West Vulcan laser facility, aimed at investigating laser–plasma interaction in conditions that are of interest for the shock ignition scheme in inertial confinement fusion (ICF), that is, laser intensity higher than ${10}^{16}$ $\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ impinging on a hot ($T>1$ keV), inhomogeneous and long scalelength pre-formed plasma. Measurements show a significant stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) backscattering ($\sim 4\%{-}20\%$ of laser energy) driven at low plasma densities and no signatures of two-plasmon decay (TPD)/SRS driven at the quarter critical density region. Results are satisfactorily reproduced by an analytical model accounting for the convective SRS growth in independent laser speckles, in conditions where the reflectivity is dominated by the contribution from the most intense speckles, where SRS becomes saturated. Analytical and kinetic simulations well reproduce the onset of SRS at low plasma densities in a regime strongly affected by non-linear Landau damping and by filamentation of the most intense laser speckles. The absence of TPD/SRS at higher densities is explained by pump depletion and plasma smoothing driven by filamentation. The prevalence of laser coupling in the low-density profile justifies the low temperature measured for hot electrons ($7\!{-}\!12$ keV), which is well reproduced by numerical simulations.

Fusion energy research is delivering impressive new results emerging from different infrastructures and industrial devices evolving rapidly from ideas to proof-of-principle demonstration and aiming at the conceptual design of reactors for the production of electricity. A major milestone has recently been announced in laser fusion by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and is giving new thrust to laser-fusion energy research worldwide. Here we discuss how these circumstances strongly suggest the need for a European intermediate-energy facility dedicated to the physics and technology of laser-fusion ignition, the physics of fusion materials and advanced technologies for high-repetition-rate, high-average-power broadband lasers. We believe that the participation of the broader scientific community and the increased engagement of industry, in partnership with research and academic institutions, make most timely the construction of this infrastructure of extreme scientific attractiveness.

La période intercritique des troubles bipolaires, jusque récemment considérée comme indemne de troubles thymiques avérés fait l’objet depuis quelques années d’une attention particulière dans les recherches scientifiques. Les travaux montrent que nombre de patients rapportent des symptômes résiduels, une hyperréactivité émotionnelle [1], des difficultés attentionnelles [2] et une impulsivité comportementale [3]. Le défaut des processus d’inhibition est un des mécanismes commun à l’ensemble de ces dimensions. L’objectif de cette recherche est d’évaluer si l’altération des processus d’inhibition est majorée chez les patients ayant des symptômes résiduels par rapport à des patients n’ayant pas de symptômes résiduels. L’échantillon est composé de patients ayant reçu un diagnostic de troubles bipolaires en phase de normothymie (critères DSM). L’altération de l’inhibition émotionnelle est évaluée à partir d’auto-questionnaires (AIM, score réactivité émotionnelle de la MATHYS), de l’inhibition cognitive à partir d’évaluation neuropsychologique (Stroop) et de l’inhibition comportementale à partir de questionnaires et d’évaluation neuropsychologique (BIS-10 et CPT-II). Les symptômes résiduels sont évalués à partir d’échelles d’intensité de la symptomatologie dépressive (MADRS) et maniaque (Young). Les résultats offrent un éclairage aux difficultés rencontrées par certains patients en phase de normothymie. Le manque d’inhibition a jusqu’alors été étudié de manière parcellaire. Nos résultats montrent la pertinence de l’envisager comme une entité constituée de dimensions émotionnelle, cognitive et comportementale. Les prises en charges ont donc tout intérêt à intégrer ces différentes dimensions et non pas à proposer un travail uniquement centré sur une des dimensions. Apprendre à réguler et mieux contrôler ce défaut d’inhibition devrait donc être un objectif thérapeutique pluridisciplinaire.

Drunkorexia, limiting food intake before alcohol consumption, increases teenagers and young adults’ risk for negative alcohol-related health consequences.

The purpose of the present study is to explore gender and age differences regarding weight management behaviors and alcohol consumption among 3004 students aged 13 to 24 years.

The following questionnaires were administered: Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS).

EDI-3 showed that 11.3% of the sample met the threshold on the “Drive for Thinness” (DT) scale, 28.9% on the “Bulimia” (B) scale, 17.2% on the “Body Dissatisfaction” (BD) scale. Females presented a higher risk at DT, B and BD scales (P < 0.001), and the risk of bulimia was higher in those aged ≤ 16 years (P = 0.028). AUDIT revealed a greater clinical risk of alcohol-related problems in males (P < 0.001) and in those aged > 16 years (P < 0.001). Drunkorexia was found in 44% of the sample, without significant difference in relation to gender and age.

Girls and younger students have more weight concerns, while boys and older students are at greater risk of alcohol use disorders. Therefore, no specific group should be considered risk-free with respect to drunkorexia.

Adherence to self-management and medication regimens is required to achieve blood glucose control in diabetic patients. Therefore, diabulimia, the deliberate insulin restriction/omission to lose weight, and other disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) or eating disorders (EDs), place these patients at risk of complications.

We aimed to establish the frequency of diabulimia, DEBs and EDs among patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes (T1DM and T2DM) and their association with other clinical features.

A total of 211 insulin-treated diabetic patients (13–55 years old) answered the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised (DEPS-R), a diabetes-specific screening tool for DEBs, and the Eating Disorders Inventory-3 (EDI-3). SCID-I modified according to DSM-5 criteria was used to diagnose EDs.

At the DEPS-R, 20.8% of the sample scored above the cutoff, more frequently females (P = 0.005), patients with T1DM (P = 0.045), with a diagnosis of ED (P < 0.001), positive to the EDI-3 (P ≤ 0.001), with physical comorbidities (P = 0.003), with HbA1c > 7% (P = 0.020). Combining data from the interview with the results at the DEPS-R, 60.2% of the sample presented diabulimia. Dividing the sample by gender, we found that diabulimic females more frequently used diet pills (P = 0.006), had significantly higher HbA1c (P = 0.019) and STAI-Y1 scores (P = 0.004). Other DEBs comprised dietary restraint (51.8% of the sample), binge eating (42.2%), vomiting (6.2%), diet pills (7.1%) or laxatives (1.9%) or diuretics use (4.3%). Overall, 21.8% of the sample, mostly females (P < 0.001) met criteria for at least one DSM-5 diagnosis of ED.

Diabetic patients, especially women, should be carefully monitored for the presence of diabulimia, BEDs and EDs.

Laser–plasma interaction (LPI) at intensities $10^{15}{-}10^{16}~\text{W}\cdot \text{cm}^{-2}$ is dominated by parametric instabilities which can be responsible for a significant amount of non-collisional absorption and generate large fluxes of high-energy nonthermal electrons. Such a regime is of paramount importance for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and in particular for the shock ignition scheme. In this paper we report on an experiment carried out at the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) facility to investigate the extent and time history of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-plasmon decay (TPD) instabilities, driven by the interaction of an infrared laser pulse at an intensity ${\sim}1.2\times 10^{16}~\text{W}\cdot \text{cm}^{-2}$ with a ${\sim}100~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ scalelength plasma produced from irradiation of a flat plastic target. The laser pulse duration (300 ps) and the high value of plasma temperature (${\sim}4~\text{keV}$) expected from hydrodynamic simulations make these results interesting for a deeper understanding of LPI in shock ignition conditions. Experimental results show that absolute TPD/SRS, driven at a quarter of the critical density, and convective SRS, driven at lower plasma densities, are well separated in time, with absolute instabilities driven at early times of interaction and convective backward SRS emerging at the laser peak and persisting all over the tail of the pulse. Side-scattering SRS, driven at low plasma densities, is also clearly observed. Experimental results are compared to fully kinetic large-scale, two-dimensional simulations. Particle-in-cell results, beyond reproducing the framework delineated by the experimental measurements, reveal the importance of filamentation instability in ruling the onset of SRS and stimulated Brillouin scattering instabilities and confirm the crucial role of collisionless absorption in the LPI energy balance.

A method for the automatic, discrete rezoning of two-dimensional Lagrangian codes for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions has been developed. The method, which applies to matrix-ordered, quadrilateral zone meshes, allows the preservation of the interface tracking property of the Lagrangian approach. Total mass and momentum are conserved exactly, total energy is approximately conserved, and numerical diffusion is kept to tolerable levels. The mesh generator, the mapping scheme, and the actual implementation in a two-temperature laser fusion code are described. The performance of the method is illustrated by several sample applications.

A simple model Equation-of-State (EOS) for matter in conditions of interest to Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and to Stellar Interiors is developed. It yields pressures and specific energies in good agreement with accurate EOS tabulations, for matter in the density range 10−6 < ρ < 104 g cm−3 and in the temperature range 0 ≤ T < 100 KeV, with the only exception being the liquid and gaseous phases of the undissociated molecular substances.

This EOS can be used for any element or mixture, requiring, as input data, only the chemical composition (A, Z, and abundancy of each element of the mixture) and three macroscopic constants of the material.

Energetic ion beams are produced during the interaction of ultrahigh-intensity, short laser pulses with plasmas. These laser-produced ion beams have important applications ranging from the fast ignition of thermonuclear targets to proton imaging, deep proton lithography, medical physics, and injectors for conventional accelerators. Although the basic physical mechanisms of ion beam generation in the plasma produced by the laser pulse interaction with the target are common to all these applications, each application requires a specific optimization of the ion beam properties, that is, an appropriate choice of the target design and of the laser pulse intensity, shape, and duration.

An overview of the various design choices to be made for a two-dimensional numerical code to simulate heavy ion targets is given. We discuss such issues as the grid structure, rezoning techniques, and the inclusion of material properties to various degrees. This is followed by a brief discussion of the open codes being used in the European heavy ion fusion community with characteristic samples of their application.