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We demonstrate a significantly simplified experimental approach for investigating liquid metallic hydrogen, which is crucial to understand the internal structure and evolution of giant planets. Plastic samples were shockcompressed and then probed by short pulses of X-rays generated by free electron lasers. By comparison with ab initio simulations, we provide indirect evidence for the creation of elemental hydrogen in shock-compressed plastics at ∼150GPa and ∼5,000K and thus in a regime where hydrogen is predicted to be metallic. Being the most common form of condensed matter in our solar system, and ostensibly the simplest of all elements, hydrogen is the model case for many theoretical studies and we provide a new possibility to benchmark models for conditions with extreme pressures and temperatures. Moreover, this approach will also allow to probe the chemical behavior of metallic hydrogen in mixture with other elements, which, besides its importance for planetary physics, may open up promising pathways for the synthesis of new materials.

The application of fluorescent crystal media in wide-range X-ray detectors provides an opportunity to directly image the spatial distribution of ultra-intense X-ray beams including investigation of the focal spot of free-electron lasers. Here the capabilities of the micro- and nano-focusing X-ray refractive optics available at the High Energy Density instrument of the European XFEL are reported, as measured in situ by means of a LiF fluorescent detector placed into and around the beam caustic. The intensity distribution of the beam focused down to several hundred nanometers was imaged at 9 keV photon energy. A deviation from the parabolic surface in a stack of nanofocusing Be compound refractive lenses (CRLs) was found to affect the resulting intensity distribution within the beam. Comparison of experimental patterns in the far field with patterns calculated for different CRL lens imperfections allowed the overall inhomogeneity in the CRL stack to be estimated. The precise determination of the focal spot size and shape on a sub-micrometer level is essential for a number of high energy density studies requiring either a pin-size backlighting spot or extreme intensities for X-ray heating.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), one of the main categories of emerging contaminants, are a family of fluorinated organic compounds of anthropogenic origin. PFAS can endanger the environment and human health because of their wide application in industries, long-term persistence, unique properties, and bioaccumulation potential. This study sought to explain the accumulation of different PFAS in water bodies. In aquatic environments, PFAS concentrations range extensively from <0.03 (groundwater; Melbourne, Australia) to 51,000 ng/L (Groundwater, Sweden). Additionally, bioaccumulation of PFAS in fish and water biota has been stated to range from 0.2 (Burbot, Lake Vättern, Sweden) to 13,900 ng/g (Bluegill samples, U.S.). Recently, studies have focused on PFAS removal from aqueous solutions; one promising technique is advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), including microwaves, ultrasound, ozonation, photocatalysis, UV, electrochemical oxidation, the Fenton process, and hydrogen peroxide-based and sulfate radical-based systems. The removal efficiency of PFAS ranges from 3% (for MW) to 100% for UV/sulfate radical as a hybrid reactor. Therefore, a hybrid reactor can be used to efficiently degrade and remove PFAS. Developing novel, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable AOPs for PFAS degradation in water treatment systems is a critical area of research.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), one of the main categories of emerging contaminants, are a family of fluorinated organic compounds of anthropogenic origin. PFAS can endanger the environment and human health because of their wide application in industries, long-term persistence, unique properties, and bioaccumulation potential. This study sought to explain the accumulation of different PFAS in water bodies. In aquatic environments, PFAS concentrations range extensively from <0.03 (groundwater; Melbourne, Australia) to 51,000 ng/L (Groundwater, Sweden). Additionally, bioaccumulation of PFAS in fish and water biota has been stated to range from 0.2 (Burbot, Lake Vättern, Sweden) to 13,900 ng/g (Bluegill samples, U.S.). Recently, studies have focused on PFAS removal from aqueous solutions; one promising technique is advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), including microwaves, ultrasound, ozonation, photocatalysis, UV, electrochemical oxidation, the Fenton process, and hydrogen peroxide-based and sulfate radical-based systems. The removal efficiency of PFAS ranges from 3% (for MW) to 100% for UV/sulfate radical as a hybrid reactor. Therefore, a hybrid reactor can be used to efficiently degrade and remove PFAS. Developing novel, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable AOPs for PFAS degradation in water treatment systems is a critical area of research.

We present a new experimental method to generate quasi-perpendicular supercritical magnetized collisionless shocks. In our experiment, ambient nitrogen (N) plasma is at rest and well-magnetized, and it has uniform mass density. The plasma is pushed by laser-driven ablation aluminum (Al) plasma. Streaked optical pyrometry and spatially resolved laser collective Thomson scattering clarify structures of plasma density and temperatures, which are compared with one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is indicated that just after the laser irradiation, the Al plasma is magnetized by a self-generated Biermann battery field, and the plasma slaps the incident N plasma. The compressed external field in the N plasma reflects N ions, leading to counter-streaming magnetized N flows. Namely we identify the edge of the reflected N ions. Such interacting plasmas form a magnetized collisionless shock., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Physical Review E, in press

We conduct SAXS measurement of sub-micron scale highly-ordered silicon-wire assembly targets (wire diameter: 500 nm, distance: 1 um, length: ~10 um, 15x3 array) to reveal temporal evolution of density profiles of 3D structure for the first time., International Conference on High Energy Density Science 2022

Extreme conditions inside ice giants like Uranus and Neptune can result in peculiar chemistry and structural transitions, e.g., the precipitation of diamonds or superionic water, as so far experimentally observed only for pure C-H and H2O systems, respectively. Here we investigate a stoichiometric mixture of C and H2O by shock-compressing PET plastics and performing in situ X-ray probing. We observe diamond formation at pressures between 72±7 GPa and 125±13 GPa at temperatures ranging from ~3500 K to ~6000 K. Combining X-ray diffraction and small angle X-ray scattering, we access the kinetics of this exotic reaction. The observed demixing of C and H2O suggests that diamond precipitation inside the ice giants is enhanced by oxygen, which can lead to isolated water and thus the formation of superionic structures relevant to the planets’ magnetic fields. Moreover, our measurements indicate a way of producing nanodiamonds by simple laser-driven shock-compression of cheap PET plastics.

The potential of microalgal photobioreactors in removing total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), chemical oxygen demand (COD), caffeine (CAF), and N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) from synthetic wastewater was studied. Chlorella vulgaris achieved maximum removal of 62.2% TAN, 52.8% COD, 62.7% CAF, and 51.8% DEET. By mixing C. vulgaris with activated sludge, the photobioreactor showed better performance, removing 82.3% TAN, 67.7% COD, 85.7% CAF, and 73.3% DEET. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi were identified as the dominant phyla in the activated sludge. The processes were then optimized by the artificial neural network (ANN). High R2 values (>0.99) and low mean squared errors demonstrated that ANN could optimize the reactors’ performance. The toxicity testing showed that high concentrations of contaminants (>10 mg/L) and long contact time (>48 h) reduced the chlorophyll and protein contents in microalgae. Overall, a green technology for wastewater treatment using microalgae and bacteria consortium has demonstrated its high potentials in sustainable management of water resources.

In the current study, an integrated physiochemical method was utilized to remove tonalide (TND) and dimethyl phthalate (DMP) (as emerging contaminants, ECs), and nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) (as heavy metals), from synthetic wastewater. In the first step of the study, pH, current (mA/cm2), and voltage (V) were set to 7.0, 30, and 9, respectively; then the removal of TND, DMP, Ni, and Pb with an electro-ozonation reactor was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). At the optimum reaction time (58.1 min), ozone dosage (9.4 mg L−1), initial concentration of ECs (0.98 mg L−1), and initial concentration of heavy metals (28.9 mg L−1), the percentages of TND, DMP, Ni, and Pb removal were 77.0%, 84.5%, 59.2%, and 58.2%, respectively. For the electro-ozonation reactor, the ozone consumption (OC) ranged from 1.1 kg to 3.9 kg (kg O3/kg Ecs), and the specific energy consumption (SEC) was 6.95 (kWh kg−1). After treatment with the optimum electro-ozonation parameters, the synthetic wastewater was transferred to a fixed-bed column, which was filled with a new composite adsorbent (named BBCEC), as the second step of the study. BBCEC improved the efficacy of the removal of TND, DMP, Ni, and Pb to more than 92%.

A developing supercritical collisionless shock propagating in a homogeneously magnetized plasma of ambient gas origin having higher uniformity than the previous experiments is formed by using high-power laser experiment. The ambient plasma is not contaminated by the plasma produced in the early time after the laser shot. While the observed developing shock does not have stationary downstream structure, it possesses some characteristics of a magnetized supercritical shock, which are supported by a one-dimensional full particle-in-cell simulation taking the effect of finite time of laser-target interaction into account., Comment: 7 pages, 6 fitures

A developing supercritical collisionless shock propagating in a homogeneously magnetized plasma of ambient gas origin having higher uniformity than the previous experiments is formed by using high-power laser experiment. The ambient plasma is not contaminated by the plasma produced in the early time after the laser shot. While the observed developing shock does not have stationary downstream structure, it possesses some characteristics of a magnetized supercritical shock, which are supported by a one-dimensional full particle-in-cell simulation taking the effect of finite time of laser-target interaction into account., Comment: 7 pages, 6 fitures

We present a new experimental method to generate quasi-perpendicular supercritical magnetized collisionless shocks. In our experiment, ambient nitrogen (N) plasma is at rest and well-magnetized, and it has uniform mass density. The plasma is pushed by laser-driven ablation aluminum (Al) plasma. Streaked optical pyrometry and spatially resolved laser collective Thomson scattering clarify structures of plasma density and temperatures, which are compared with one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is indicated that just after the laser irradiation, the Al plasma is magnetized by a self-generated Biermann battery field, and the plasma slaps the incident N plasma. The compressed external field in the N plasma reflects N ions, leading to counter-streaming magnetized N flows. Namely we identify the edge of the reflected N ions. Such interacting plasmas form a magnetized collisionless shock., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Physical Review E, in press

Bipolar affective disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric illness, for which lithium (Li) is the gold standard for acute and maintenance therapies. The therapeutic response to Li in BD is heterogeneous and reliable biomarkers allowing patients stratification are still needed. A GWAS performed by the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) has recently identified genetic markers associated with treatment responses to Li in the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) region. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this association, we have genetically imputed the classical alleles of the HLA region in the European patients of the ConLiGen cohort. We found our best signal for amino-acid variants belonging to the HLA-DRB1*11:01 classical allele, associated with a better response to Li (p < 1 × 10−3; FDR < 0.09 in the recessive model). Alanine or Leucine at position 74 of the HLA-DRB1 heavy chain was associated with a good response while Arginine or Glutamic acid with a poor response. As these variants have been implicated in common inflammatory/autoimmune processes, our findings strongly suggest that HLA-mediated low inflammatory background may contribute to the efficient response to Li in BD patients, while an inflammatory status overriding Li anti-inflammatory properties would favor a weak response.

Predicting lithium response prior to treatment could both expedite therapy and avoid exposure to side effects. Since lithium responsiveness may be heritable, its predictability based on genomic data is of interest. We thus evaluate the degree to which lithium response can be predicted with a machine learning (ML) approach using genomic data. Using the largest existing genomic dataset in the lithium response literature (n = 2210 across 14 international sites; 29% responders), we evaluated the degree to which lithium response could be predicted based on 47,465 genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms using a supervised ML approach. Under appropriate cross-validation procedures, lithium response could be predicted to above-chance levels in two constituent sites (Halifax, Cohen’s kappa 0.15, 95% confidence interval, CI [0.07, 0.24]; and Würzburg, kappa 0.2 [0.1, 0.3]). Variants with shared importance in these models showed over-representation of postsynaptic membrane related genes. Lithium response was not predictable in the pooled dataset (kappa 0.02 [− 0.01, 0.04]), although non-trivial performance was achieved within a restricted dataset including only those patients followed prospectively (kappa 0.09 [0.04, 0.14]). Genomic classification of lithium response remains a promising but difficult task. Classification performance could potentially be improved by further harmonization of data collection procedures.

Bipolar affective disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric illness, for which lithium (Li) is the gold standard for acute and maintenance therapies. The therapeutic response to Li in BD is heterogeneous and reliable biomarkers allowing patients stratification are still needed. A GWAS performed by the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) has recently identified genetic markers associated with treatment responses to Li in the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) region. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this association, we have genetically imputed the classical alleles of the HLA region in the European patients of the ConLiGen cohort. We found our best signal for amino-acid variants belonging to the HLA-DRB1*11:01 classical allele, associated with a better response to Li (p < 1 × 10-3; FDR < 0.09 in the recessive model). Alanine or Leucine at position 74 of the HLA-DRB1 heavy chain was associated with a good response while Arginine or Glutamic acid with a poor response. As these variants have been implicated in common inflammatory/autoimmune processes, our findings strongly suggest that HLA-mediated low inflammatory background may contribute to the efficient response to Li in BD patients, while an inflammatory status overriding Li anti-inflammatory properties would favor a weak response.

Lithium is the gold standard therapy for Bipolar Disorder (BD) but its effectiveness differs widely between individuals. The molecular mechanisms underlying treatment response heterogeneity are not well understood, and personalized treatment in BD remains elusive. Genetic analyses of the lithium treatment response phenotype may generate novel molecular insights into lithium's therapeutic mechanisms and lead to testable hypotheses to improve BD management and outcomes. We used fixed effect meta-analysis techniques to develop meta-analytic polygenic risk scores (MET-PRS) from combinations of highly correlated psychiatric traits, namely schizophrenia (SCZ), major depression (MD) and bipolar disorder (BD). We compared the effects of cross-disorder MET-PRS and single genetic trait PRS on lithium response. For the PRS analyses, we included clinical data on lithium treatment response and genetic information for n = 2283 BD cases from the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLi+Gen; www.ConLiGen.org ). Higher SCZ and MD PRSs were associated with poorer lithium treatment response whereas BD-PRS had no association with treatment outcome. The combined MET2-PRS comprising of SCZ and MD variants (MET2-PRS) and a model using SCZ and MD-PRS sequentially improved response prediction, compared to single-disorder PRS or to a combined score using all three traits (MET3-PRS). Patients in the highest decile for MET2-PRS loading had 2.5 times higher odds of being classified as poor responders than patients with the lowest decile MET2-PRS scores. An exploratory functional pathway analysis of top MET2-PRS variants was conducted. Findings may inform the development of future testing strategies for personalized lithium prescribing in BD.

We present results from the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser facility, where we used a high intensity (∼10^20 W/cm2) x-ray pump x-ray probe scheme to observe changes in the ionic structure of silicon induced by x-ray heating of the electrons. By avoiding Laue spots in the scattering signal from a single crystalline sample, we observe a rapid rise in diffuse scattering and a transition to a disordered, liquidlike state with a structure significantly different from liquid silicon. The disordering occurs within 100 fs of irradiation, a timescale that agrees well with first principles simulations, and is faster than that predicted by purely inertial behavior, suggesting that both the phase change and disordered state reached are dominated by Coulomb forces. This method is capable of observing liquid scattering without masking signal from the ambient solid, allowing the liquid structure to be measured throughout and beyond the phase change.

Landfill leachate is characterised by high chemical and biological oxygen demand and generally consists of undesirable substances such as organic and inorganic contaminants. Landfill leachate may differ depending on the content and age of landfill contents, the degradation procedure, climate and hydrological conditions. We aimed to explain the characteristics of landfill leachate and define the practicality of using different techniques for treating landfill leachate. Different treatments comprising biological methods (e.g. bioreactors, bioremediation and phytoremediation) and physicochemical approaches (e.g. advanced oxidation processes, adsorption, coagulation/ flocculation and membrane filtration) were investigated in this study. Membrane bioreactors and integrated biological techniques, including integrated anaerobic ammonium oxidation and nitrification/denitrification processes, have demonstrated high performance in ammonia and nitrogen elimination, with a removal effectiveness of more than 90%. Moreover, improved elimination efficiency for suspended solids and turbidity has been achieved by coagulation/ flocculation techniques. In addition, improved elimination of metals can be attained by combining different treatment techniques, with a removal effectiveness of 40–100%. Furthermore, combined treatment techniques for treating landfill leachate, owing to its high chemical oxygen demand and concentrations of ammonia and low biodegradability, have been reported with good performance. However, further study is necessary to enhance treatment methods to achieve maximum removal efficiency.

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) is an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and biological method for nitrogen treatment from aqueous solutions. However, slow growth rate, negative effects of high concentration of nitrite, ammonia and other pollutants (such as metals) on anammox activity are the main drawbacks of using anammox. Thus, in this study, anammox was attached on chitosan to improve anammox performance. Two reactors comprising chitosan and anammox bacteria (first reactor, chitosan/anammox) and solely anammox (second reactor, control) were run for 73 d. The nitrogen loading rate (NLR) varied from 2 to 14 (gN/L/d), while the nitrogen concentration varied from 80 to 700 mg/L. The chitosan/anammox reactor showed a better performance than the sole anammox (control), with respective maximum abatement values of ammonia (NH4+), nitrite (NO2-), and total nitrogen (TN) of 90.8%, 83.5%, and 81.7% on days 20-25 under a NLR of 8-10 kgTN/(m3 d). Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the performance of both reactors, and a reasonable R2 value showed that the RSM well optimized the performance of the reactors. After finding the optimum performance conditions for both reactors, Fe and Cu (0.5-7.0 mg/L) were added to the influent to monitor the effects of metals on the performance of both reactors. The performance of both reactors decreased to 0% following the addition of 7.0 (first reactor) and 6.5 (second reactor) mg/L Cu and Fe, respectively. This indicated that chitosan not only enhanced nitrogen removal by anammox but also improved the resistance of anammox to metals.

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) is an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and biological method for nitrogen treatment from aqueous solutions. However, slow growth rate, negative effects of high concentration of nitrite, ammonia and other pollutants (such as metals) on anammox activity are the main drawbacks of using anammox. Thus, in this study, anammox was attached on chitosan to improve anammox performance. Two reactors comprising chitosan and anammox bacteria (first reactor, chitosan/anammox) and solely anammox (second reactor, control) were run for 73 d. The nitrogen loading rate (NLR) varied from 2 to 14 (gN/L/d), while the nitrogen concentration varied from 80 to 700 mg/L. The chitosan/anammox reactor showed a better performance than the sole anammox (control), with respective maximum abatement values of ammonia (NH4+), nitrite (NO2-), and total nitrogen (TN) of 90.8%, 83.5%, and 81.7% on days 20-25 under a NLR of 8-10 kgTN/(m3 d). Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the performance of both reactors, and a reasonable R2 value showed that the RSM well optimized the performance of the reactors. After finding the optimum performance conditions for both reactors, Fe and Cu (0.5-7.0 mg/L) were added to the influent to monitor the effects of metals on the performance of both reactors. The performance of both reactors decreased to 0% following the addition of 7.0 (first reactor) and 6.5 (second reactor) mg/L Cu and Fe, respectively. This indicated that chitosan not only enhanced nitrogen removal by anammox but also improved the resistance of anammox to metals.

Landfill leachate is characterised by high chemical and biological oxygen demand and generally consists of undesirable substances such as organic and inorganic contaminants. Landfill leachate may differ depending on the content and age of landfill contents, the degradation procedure, climate and hydrological conditions. We aimed to explain the characteristics of landfill leachate and define the practicality of using different techniques for treating landfill leachate. Different treatments comprising biological methods (e.g. bioreactors, bioremediation and phytoremediation) and physicochemical approaches (e.g. advanced oxidation processes, adsorption, coagulation/ flocculation and membrane filtration) were investigated in this study. Membrane bioreactors and integrated biological techniques, including integrated anaerobic ammonium oxidation and nitrification/denitrification processes, have demonstrated high performance in ammonia and nitrogen elimination, with a removal effectiveness of more than 90%. Moreover, improved elimination efficiency for suspended solids and turbidity has been achieved by coagulation/ flocculation techniques. In addition, improved elimination of metals can be attained by combining different treatment techniques, with a removal effectiveness of 40–100%. Furthermore, combined treatment techniques for treating landfill leachate, owing to its high chemical oxygen demand and concentrations of ammonia and low biodegradability, have been reported with good performance. However, further study is necessary to enhance treatment methods to achieve maximum removal efficiency.

In this work, we present experimental results on the behavior of liquid water at megabar pressure. The experiment was performed using the HIPER (High-Intensity Plasma Experimental Research) laser facility, a uniaxial irradiation chamber of GEKKO XII (GXII) at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), and the PHELIX at GSI (GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research), a single-beam high-power laser facility, to launch a planar shock into solid multilayered water samples. Equation-of-state data of water (H2O) are obtained in the pressure range 0.50–4.6 Mbar by tuning the laser-drive parameters. The Hugoniot parameters (pressure, density, etc.) and the shock temperature were simultaneously determined by using VISAR and SOP as diagnostic tools and quartz as the standard material for impedance mismatch experiments. Finally, our experimental results are compared with hydrodynamic simulations tested with different equations of state, showing good compatibility with tabulated SESAME tables for water.

Lithium is a first-line medication for bipolar disorder (BD), but only one in three patients respond optimally to the drug. Since evidence shows a strong clinical and genetic overlap between depression and bipolar disorder, we investigated whether a polygenic susceptibility to major depression is associated with response to lithium treatment in patients with BD. Weighted polygenic scores (PGSs) were computed for major depression (MD) at different GWAS p value thresholds using genetic data obtained from 2586 bipolar patients who received lithium treatment and took part in the Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLi+Gen) study. Summary statistics from genome-wide association studies in MD (135,458 cases and 344,901 controls) from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) were used for PGS weighting. Response to lithium treatment was defined by continuous scores and categorical outcome (responders versus non-responders) using measurements on the Alda scale. Associations between PGSs of MD and lithium treatment response were assessed using a linear and binary logistic regression modeling for the continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively. The analysis was performed for the entire cohort, and for European and Asian sub-samples. The PGSs for MD were significantly associated with lithium treatment response in multi-ethnic, European or Asian populations, at various p value thresholds. Bipolar patients with a low polygenic load for MD were more likely to respond well to lithium, compared to those patients with high polygenic load [lowest vs highest PGS quartiles, multi-ethnic sample: OR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.18-2.01) and European sample: OR = 1.75 (95% CI: 1.30-2.36)]. While our analysis in the Asian sample found equivalent effect size in the same direction: OR = 1.71 (95% CI: 0.61-4.90), this was not statistically significant. Using PGS decile comparison, we found a similar trend of association between a high genetic loading for MD and lower response to lithium. Our findin

We report in situ structural measurements of shock‐compressed single crystal orthoenstatite up to 337 ± 55 GPa on the Hugoniot, obtained by coupling ultrafast X‐ray diffraction to laser‐driven shock compression. Shock compression induces a disordering of the crystalline structure evidenced by the appearance of a diffuse X‐ray diffraction signal at nanosecond timescales at 80 ± 13 GPa on the Hugoniot, well below the equilibrium melting pressure (>170 GPa). The formation of bridgmanite and post‐perovskite have been indirectly reported in microsecond‐scale plate‐impact experiments. Therefore, we interpret the high‐pressure disordered state we observed at nanosecond scale as an intermediate structure from which bridgmanite and post‐perovskite crystallize at longer timescales. This evidence of a disordered structure of MgSiO₃ on the Hugoniot indicates that the degree of polymerization of silicates is a key parameter to constrain the actual thermodynamics of shocks in natural environments.

We put forward a co-axial pump(optical)-probe(X-rays) experimental concept and show performance of the optical component. A Bessel beam generator with a central 100 micrometers-diameter hole (on the optical axis) was fabricated using femtosecond (fs) laser structuring inside a silica plate. This flat-axicon optical element produces a needle-like axial intensity distribution which can be used for the optical pump pulse. The fs-X-ray free electron laser (X-FEL) beam of sub-1 micrometer diameter can be introduced through the central hole along the optical axis onto a target as a probe. Different realisations of optical pump are discussed. Such optical elements facilitate alignment of ultra-short fs-pulses in space and time and can be used in light-matter interaction experiments at extreme energy densities on the surface and in the volume of targets. Full advantage of ultra-short 10 fs X-FEL probe pulses with fs-pump(optical) opens an unexplored temporal dimension of phase transitions and the fastest laser-induced rates of material heating and quenching. A wider field of applications of fs-laser-enabled structuring of materials and design of specific optical elements for astrophotonics is presented.

High intensity X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL) are an ideal tool to heat materials directly and isochorically, which can cause them to be modified and damaged irreversibly. During XFEL-matter interactions, the energy of an XFEL beam will be mainly absorbed by photoionization, creating numerous high-energy photo- and Auger electrons. Modelling this process is quite complex since both atomic physics and plasma physics are involved. Atomic collisional-radiative (CR) codes such as FLYCHK are widely used to simulate such processes. However, the CR codes typically assume local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and are limited to zero dimension. In order to understand the sample damaging mechanisms, we performed two-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulations with radiation transport (PIC-RT) to retrieve the temporal processes of XFEL-matter interactions. The dynamics of XFEL-Matter interactions can roughly divide into three different time scales: 1) electron heating and photoionization by XFEL in ~ 10 fs ; 2) collisional heating and ionization by high-energy photo- and Auger electrons with several keV energy in tens of fs to sub-ps; and 3) collective hydrodynamic explosion driven by ~ TPa thermal pressure from ~100 fs to nanoseconds. The simulation results are compared to our recent experiment that a variety of samples were irradiated by Japanese XFEL SACLA with intensities on the order of 10^20 W/cm^2. The post-analysis of the irradiated samples showed that large holes with radius sizes more than one order of magnitude higher than the XFEL spot were created for metallic samples. The hole size is also much larger than the stopping range of high energy electrons. According to our PIC-RT simulations, we attribute the generation of such large holes to the micro-explosion process. Kinect simulation of the hole generation with multiple time scales is also useful and complementary to understand the change of X-Ray diffraction pattern in the experiment that infers significa

High intensity X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL) are an ideal tool to heat materials directly and isochorically, which can cause them to be modified and damaged irreversibly. During XFEL-matter interactions, the energy of an XFEL beam will be mainly absorbed by photoionization, creating numerous high-energy photo- and Auger electrons. Modelling this process is quite complex since both atomic physics and plasma physics are involved. Atomic collisional-radiative (CR) codes such as FLYCHK are widely used to simulate such processes. However, the CR codes typically assume local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and are limited to zero dimension. In order to understand the sample damaging mechanisms, we performed two-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulations with radiation transport (PIC-RT) to retrieve the temporal processes of XFEL-matter interactions. The dynamics of XFEL-Matter interactions can roughly divide into three different time scales: 1) electron heating and photoionization by XFEL in ~ 10 fs ; 2) collisional heating and ionization by high-energy photo- and Auger electrons with several keV energy in tens of fs to sub-ps; and 3) collective hydrodynamic explosion driven by ~ TPa thermal pressure from ~100 fs to nanoseconds. The simulation results are compared to our recent experiment that a variety of samples were irradiated by Japanese XFEL SACLA with intensities on the order of 10^20 W/cm^2. The post-analysis of the irradiated samples showed that large holes with radius sizes more than one order of magnitude higher than the XFEL spot were created for metallic samples. The hole size is also much larger than the stopping range of high energy electrons. According to our PIC-RT simulations, we attribute the generation of such large holes to the micro-explosion process. Kinect simulation of the hole generation with multiple time scales is also useful and complementary to understand the change of X-Ray diffraction pattern in the experiment that infers significa

We report time-resolved X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) measurements of warm dense MgO. We used a high power nanosecond pulse to drive a strong uniform shock wave into an MgO sample, and a picosecond pulse to generate a broadband X-ray source near the Mg K-edge. We used this setup to obtain XANES spectra across a large area of the phase diagram, with densities up to 6.8 g/cc and temperatures up to 30 000 K, conditions at which no prior investigations of electronic and ionic structure exist. Our XANES results, together with quantum molecular dynamic simulations, demonstrate that the sample metallizes due to the bandgap closure as it melts, after which it shows typical behavior for a disordered ionic liquid.

Accretion processes play a crucial role in a wide variety of astrophysical systems. Of particular interest are magnetic cataclysmic variables, where, plasma flow is directed along the star’s magnetic field lines onto its poles. A stationary shock is formed, several hundred kilometres above the stellar surface; a distance far too small to be resolved with today’s telescopes. Here, we report the results of an analogous laboratory experiment which recreates this astrophysical system. The dynamics of the laboratory system are strongly influenced by the interplay of material, thermal, magnetic and radiative effects, allowing a steady shock to form at a constant distance from a stationary obstacle. Our results demonstrate that a significant amount of plasma is ejected in the lateral direction; a phenomenon that is under-estimated in typical magnetohydrodynamic simulations and often neglected in astrophysical models. This changes the properties of the post-shock region considerably and has important implications for many astrophysical studies.

We present results from the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility, using an X-ray pump, X-ray probe scheme to observe ultrafast changes in the structure of heated graphite. The 9.8 keV XFEL beam was focused to give an intensity on the order of 10^19 W/cm2, and the evolution of the diffraction pattern observed up to delays of 300 fs. The interplanar diffraction peaks weaken significantly within 10s of femtoseconds, but in-plane diffraction orders i.e. those with Miller Index (hk0), persist up to 300 fs, with the observed signal increasing. We interpret this as nonthermal damage through the breaking of interplanar bonds, which at longer timescales leads to ablation by removal of intact graphite sheets. Post-experiment examination of the graphite samples shows damage which is comparable in size to the range of the excited photoelectrons. These results highlight the challenges of accurately modelling X-ray driven heating, as it becomes a routine approach to generating high energy density states.

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are principally derived from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. This study investigated the occurrence of PAHs in aquatic environments around the world, their effects on the environment and humans, and methods for their removal. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have a great negative impact on the humans and environment, and can even cause cancer in humans. Use of good methods and equipment are essential to monitoring PAHs, and GC/MS and HPLC are usually used for their analysis in aqueous solutions. In aquatic environments, the PAHs concentrations range widely from 0.03 ng/L (seawater; Southeastern Japan Sea, Japan) to 8,310,000 ng/L (Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant, Siloam, South Africa). Moreover, bioaccumulation of ∑16PAHs in fish has been reported to range from 11.2 ng/L (Cynoscion guatucupa, South Africa) to 4207.5 ng/L (Saurida undosquamis, Egypt). Several biological, physical and chemical and biological techniques have been reported to treat water contaminated by PAHs, but adsorption and combined treatment methods have shown better removal performance, with some methods removing up to 99.99% of PAHs.

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are principally derived from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. This study investigated the occurrence of PAHs in aquatic environments around the world, their effects on the environment and humans, and methods for their removal. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have a great negative impact on the humans and environment, and can even cause cancer in humans. Use of good methods and equipment are essential to monitoring PAHs, and GC/MS and HPLC are usually used for their analysis in aqueous solutions. In aquatic environments, the PAHs concentrations range widely from 0.03 ng/L (seawater; Southeastern Japan Sea, Japan) to 8,310,000 ng/L (Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant, Siloam, South Africa). Moreover, bioaccumulation of ∑16PAHs in fish has been reported to range from 11.2 ng/L (Cynoscion guatucupa, South Africa) to 4207.5 ng/L (Saurida undosquamis, Egypt). Several biological, physical and chemical and biological techniques have been reported to treat water contaminated by PAHs, but adsorption and combined treatment methods have shown better removal performance, with some methods removing up to 99.99% of PAHs.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, highly heritable neuropsychiatric disease characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression. Lithium is the best-established long-term treatment for BD, even though individual response is highly variable. Evidence suggests that some of this variability has a genetic basis. This is supported by the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of lithium response to date conducted by the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen). Recently, we performed the first genome-wide analysis of the involvement of miRNAs in BD and identified nine BD-associated miRNAs. However, it is unknown whether these miRNAs are also associated with lithium response in BD. In the present study, we therefore tested whether common variants at these nine candidate miRNAs contribute to the variance in lithium response in BD. Furthermore, we systematically analyzed whether any other miRNA in the genome is implicated in the response to lithium. For this purpose, we performed gene-based tests for all known miRNA coding genes in the ConLiGen GWAS dataset (n = 2,563 patients) using a set-based testing approach adapted from the versatile gene-based test for GWAS (VEGAS2). In the candidate approach, miR-499a showed a nominally significant association with lithium response, providing some evidence for involvement in both development and treatment of BD. In the genome-wide miRNA analysis, 71 miRNAs showed nominally significant associations with the dichotomous phenotype and 106 with the continuous trait for treatment response. A total of 15 miRNAs revealed nominal significance in both phenotypes with miR-633 showing the strongest association with the continuous trait (p = 9.80E-04) and miR-607 with the dichotomous phenotype (p = 5.79E-04). No association between miRNAs and treatment response to lithium in BD in either of the tested conditions withstood multiple testing correction. Given the limited power of our study, the investigation of miRNAs

IMPORTANCE Lithium is a first-line mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). However, the efficacy of lithium varies widely, with a nonresponse rate of up to 30%. Biological response markers are lacking. Genetic factors are thought to mediate treatment response to lithium, and there is a previously reported genetic overlap between BPAD and schizophrenia (SCZ). OBJECTIVES To test whether a polygenic score for SCZ is associated with treatment response to lithium in BPAD and to explore the potential molecular underpinnings of this association. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 2586 patients with BPAD who had undergone lithium treatment were genotyped and assessed for long-term response to treatment between 2008 and 2013.Weighted SCZ polygenic scores were computed at different P value thresholds using summary statistics from an international multicenter genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 36 989 individuals with SCZ and genotype data from patients with BPAD from the Consortium on Lithium Genetics. For functional exploration, a cross-trait meta-GWAS and pathway analysis was performed, combining GWAS summary statistics on SCZ and response to treatment with lithium. Data analysis was performed from September 2016 to February 2017. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Treatment response to lithiumwas defined on both the categorical and continuous scales using the Retrospective Criteria of Long-Term Treatment Response in Research Subjects with Bipolar Disorder score. The effect measures include odds ratios and the proportion of variance explained. RESULTS Of the 2586 patients in the study (mean [SD] age, 47.2 [13.9] years), 1478 were women and 1108 were men. The polygenic score for SCZ was inversely associated with lithium treatment response in the categorical outcome, at a threshold P < 5 ? 10-2. Patients with BPAD who had a low polygenic load for SCZ responded better to lithium, with odds ratios for lithium response ranging from 3.46 (95%

Water, ethanol, and ammonia are the key components of the mantles of Uranus and Neptune. To improve structure and evolution models and give an explanation of the magnetic fields and luminosities of the icy giants, those components need to be characterised at planetary conditions (some Mbar and a few $10^3$ K). Those conditions are typical of the Warm Dense Matter regime, which exhibits a rich phase diagram, with the coexistence of many states of matter and a large variety of chemical processes. H$_2$O, C:H:O, and C:H:N:O mixtures have been compressed up to 2.8 Mbar along the principal Hugoniot using laser-driven decaying shocks. The experiments were performed at the GEKKO XII and LULI 2000 laser facilities using standard optical diagnostics (Doppler velocimetry and pyrometry) to characterise equation of state and optical reflectivity of the shocked states. The results show that H$_2$O and the C:H:N:O mixture share the same equation of state with a density scaling, while the reflectivity behaves differently by what concerns both the onset pressures and the saturation values. The reflectivity measurement at two frequencies allows to estimate the conductivity and the complex refractive index using a Drude model.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, highly heritable neuropsychiatric disease characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression. Lithium is the best-established long-term treatment for BD, even though individual response is highly variable. Evidence suggests that some of this variability has a genetic basis. This is supported by the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of lithium response to date conducted by the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen). Recently, we performed the first genome-wide analysis of the involvement of miRNAs in BD and identified nine BD-associated miRNAs. However, it is unknown whether these miRNAs are also associated with lithium response in BD. In the present study, we therefore tested whether common variants at these nine candidate miRNAs contribute to the variance in lithium response in BD. Furthermore, we systematically analyzed whether any other miRNA in the genome is implicated in the response to lithium. For this purpose, we performed gene-based tests for all known miRNA coding genes in the ConLiGen GWAS dataset (n = 2,563 patients) using a set-based testing approach adapted from the versatile gene-based test for GWAS (VEGAS2). In the candidate approach, miR-499a showed a nominally significant association with lithium response, providing some evidence for involvement in both development and treatment of BD. In the genome-wide miRNA analysis, 71 miRNAs showed nominally significant associations with the dichotomous phenotype and 106 with the continuous trait for treatment response. A total of 15 miRNAs revealed nominal significance in both phenotypes with miR-633 showing the strongest association with the continuous trait (p = 9.80E-04) and miR-607 with the dichotomous phenotype (p = 5.79E-04). No association between miRNAs and treatment response to lithium in BD in either of the tested conditions withstood multiple testing correction. Given the limited power of our study, the investigation of miRNAs

In this work, we demonstrate simultaneous phase-contrast imaging (PCI) and X-ray diffractionfrom shock compressed matter at the Matter in Extreme Conditions endstation, at the LinacCoherent Light Source (LCLS). We utilize the chromaticity from compound refractive X-ray lensesto focus the 24.6 keV 3rd order undulator harmonic of the LCLS to a spot size of 5lm on target toperform X-ray diffraction. Simultaneous PCI from the 8.2 keV fundamental X-ray beam is used tovisualize and measure the transient properties of the shock wave over a 500lm field of view.Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability to extend the reciprocal space measurements by 5 Angstroem, rel-ative to the fundamental X-ray energy, by utilizing X-ray diffraction from the 3rd harmonic of theLCLS.

The influence of a strong external magnetic field on the collimation of a high Mach number, plasma flow and its collision with a solid obstacle is investigated experimentally and numerically. The laser irradiation (I ∼ 2 × 1014 W cm−2) of a multilayer target generates a shock wave that produces a rear side plasma expanding flow. Immersed in a homogeneous 10 T external magnetic field, this plasma flow propagates in vacuum and impacts an obstacle located a few mm from the main target. A reverse shock is then formed with typical velocities of the order of 15–20 ± 5 km/s. The experimental results are compared with 2D radiative MHD simulations using the FLASH code. This platform allows investigating the dynamics of reverse shock, mimicking the processes occurring in a cataclysmic variable of polar type.

Water, ethanol, and ammonia are the key components of the mantles of Uranus and Neptune. To improve structure and evolution models and give an explanation of the magnetic fields and luminosities of the icy giants, those components need to be characterised at planetary conditions (some Mbar and a few $10^3$ K). Those conditions are typical of the Warm Dense Matter regime, which exhibits a rich phase diagram, with the coexistence of many states of matter and a large variety of chemical processes. H$_2$O, C:H:O, and C:H:N:O mixtures have been compressed up to 2.8 Mbar along the principal Hugoniot using laser-driven decaying shocks. The experiments were performed at the GEKKO XII and LULI 2000 laser facilities using standard optical diagnostics (Doppler velocimetry and pyrometry) to characterise equation of state and optical reflectivity of the shocked states. The results show that H$_2$O and the C:H:N:O mixture share the same equation of state with a density scaling, while the reflectivity behaves differently by what concerns both the onset pressures and the saturation values. The reflectivity measurement at two frequencies allows to estimate the conductivity and the complex refractive index using a Drude model.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified several susceptibility loci for bipolar disorder (BD) and shown that the genetic architecture of BD can be explained by polygenicity, with numerous variants contributing to BD. In the present GWAS (Phase I/II), which included 2964 BD and 61 887 control subjects from the Japanese population, we detected a novel susceptibility locus at 11q12.2 (rs28456, P=6.4 × 10−9), a region known to contain regulatory genes for plasma lipid levels (FADS1/2/3). A subsequent meta-analysis of Phase I/II and the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium for BD (PGC-BD) identified another novel BD gene, NFIX (P best=5.8 × 10−10), and supported three regions previously implicated in BD susceptibility: MAD1L1 (P best=1.9 × 10−9), TRANK1 (P best=2.1 × 10−9) and ODZ4 (P best=3.3 × 10−9). Polygenicity of BD within Japanese and trans-European-Japanese populations was assessed with risk profile score analysis. We detected higher scores in BD cases both within (Phase I/II) and across populations (Phase I/II and PGC-BD). These were defined by (1) Phase II as discovery and Phase I as target, or vice versa (for ‘within Japanese comparisons’, Pbest~10−29, R2~2%), and (2) European PGC-BD as discovery and Japanese BD (Phase I/II) as target (for ‘trans-European-Japanese comparison,’ Pbest~10−13, R2~0.27%). This ‘trans population’ effect was supported by estimation of the genetic correlation using the effect size based on each population (liability estimates~0.7). These results indicate that (1) two novel and three previously implicated loci are significantly associated with BD and that (2) BD ‘risk’ effect are shared between Japanese and European populations.

N. J. Hartley, N. Ozaki, T. Matsuoka, B. Albertazzi, A. Faenov, Y. Fujimoto, H. Habara, M. Harmand, Y. Inubushi, T. Katayama, M. Koenig, A. Krygier, P. Mabey, Y. Matsumura, S. Matsuyama, E. E. McBride, K. Miyanishi, G. Morard, T. Okuchi, T. Pikuz, O. Sakata, Y. Sano, T. Sato, T. Sekine, Y. Seto, K. Takahashi, K. A. Tanaka, Y. Tange, T. Togashi, Y. Umeda, T. Vinci, M. Yabashi, T. Yabuuchi, K. Yamauchi, and R. Kodama , "Ultrafast observation of lattice dynamics in laser-irradiated gold foils", Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 071905 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4976541., We have observed the lattice expansion before the onset of compression in an optical-laser-driven target, using diffraction of femtosecond X-ray beams generated by the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-electron Laser. The change in diffraction angle provides a direct measure of the lattice spacing, allowing the density to be calculated with a precision of ±1%. From the known equation of state relations, this allows an estimation of the temperature responsible for the expansion as <1000 K. The subsequent ablation-driven compression was observed with a clear rise in density at later times. This demonstrates the feasibility of studying the dynamics of preheating and shock formation with unprecedented detail.

In this paper, we present recent results obtained on highly radiative shocks (RS) generated in a low-density gas filled cell obtained on the GEKKO XII laser facility. The RS was generated by using an ablator-pusher two-layer target (CH/Ti) and propagation media (Xe). High velocity RS have been generated (100-140 km/s) while limiting the preheating produced by the corona emission. Both self-emission and visible probe diagnostics highlighted a strong and anisotropic emission well ahead of the shock front. Its characteristics that depend on the initial conditions are described here as well as its interaction with an aluminium foil used as an obstacle. The obtained results are discussed showing a strong extension of the radiative precursor (1 mm) leading to an expansion of the obstacle at a velocity ≈ 6 km/s compatible to a 1-2 eV temperature.

We have observed lattice expansion before the onset of compression in an optical-laser-driven target, using diffraction of femtosecond X-ray beams generated by the SACLA X-ray Free Electron Laser. The change in diffraction angle provides a direct measure of the lattice spacing, allowing the density to be calculated with a precision of +-1%. From known equation of state relations this allows estimation of the temperature responsible for the expansion as <1000 K. The subsequent ablation-driven compression was observed with a clear rise in density at later times. This demonstrates the feasibility of studying the dynamics of preheating and shock formation with unprecedented detail.

Here we report on recent results from an experiments carried out at LULI2000 using the nanosecond beam to generate a high-density plasma flow by laser-driven rear-side shock breakout. The sample was positioned inside a pulsed coil generating a magnet field of ~15T in order to study the influence of the magnetic field on the plasma flow. In addition, an obstacle was placed behind the sample to investigate the formation of a return shock. As diagnostics we used laser-driven X-ray point projection radioscopy driven by the pico2000 beam and optical Schlieren Imaging, shadowgraphy, and Streaked Optical Pyrometry from two sides. Accretion processes are among the most important phenomena in high-energy astrophysics since they are widely believed to provide the power supply in various astrophysical objects and they are the main source of radiation in several binary systems [1]. Understanding the complex physical processes that allow releasing gravitational energy in form of radiation is fundamental to interpret the high-energy astronomical observations [2]. Among the different X-ray binary systems are cataclysmic variable stars, close binary systems containing a white dwarf that accretes matter from a late type Roche-lobe filling secondary star [3]. They provide unique insight on accretion processes in extreme astrophysical regimes since sources of luminosity other than the accretion region itself are relatively weak. In some cataclysmic variable stars, the magnetic field is strong enough (B>10MG) to prevent the formation of an accretion disk and to channel the accreting plasmas onto the compact object magnetic poles, leading to the formation of an accretion column and impacts the white dwarf atmosphere. By fulfilling similarity properties and scaling laws these processes can be scaled to laboratory length and time scales und thus can be studied using high energy laser-matter interactions. [4] Up to now experiments used a tube in order to collimate the plasma flow generated

Materials at high pressures and temperatures are of great current interest for warm dense matter physics, planetary sciences, and inertial fusion energy research. Shock-compression equation-of-state data and optical reflectivities of the fluid dense oxide, Gcl(3)Ga(5)O(12) (GGG), were measured at extremely high pressures up to 2.6TPa (26 Mbar) generated by high-power laser irradiation and magnetically driven hypervelocity impacts. Above 0.75TPa, the GGG Hugoniot data approach/reach a universal linear line of fluid metals, and the optical reflectivity most likely reaches a constant value indicating that GGG undergoes a crossover from fluid semiconductor to poor metal with minimum metallic conductivity (MMC). These results suggest that most fluid compounds, e.g., strong planetary oxides, reach a common state on the universal Hugoniot of fluid metals (UHFM) with MMC at sufficiently extreme pressures and temperatures. The systematic behaviors of warm dense fluid would be useful benchmarks for developing theoretical equation-of-state and transport models in the warm dense matter regime in determining computational predictions., QC 20160614

Materials at high pressures and temperatures are of great current interest for warm dense matter physics, planetary sciences, and inertial fusion energy research. Shock-compression equation-of-state data and optical reflectivities of the fluid dense oxide, Gcl(3)Ga(5)O(12) (GGG), were measured at extremely high pressures up to 2.6TPa (26 Mbar) generated by high-power laser irradiation and magnetically driven hypervelocity impacts. Above 0.75TPa, the GGG Hugoniot data approach/reach a universal linear line of fluid metals, and the optical reflectivity most likely reaches a constant value indicating that GGG undergoes a crossover from fluid semiconductor to poor metal with minimum metallic conductivity (MMC). These results suggest that most fluid compounds, e.g., strong planetary oxides, reach a common state on the universal Hugoniot of fluid metals (UHFM) with MMC at sufficiently extreme pressures and temperatures. The systematic behaviors of warm dense fluid would be useful benchmarks for developing theoretical equation-of-state and transport models in the warm dense matter regime in determining computational predictions.

Materials at high pressures and temperatures are of great current interest for warm dense matter physics, planetary sciences, and inertial fusion energy research. Shock-compression equation-of-state data and optical reflectivities of the fluid dense oxide, Gcl(3)Ga(5)O(12) (GGG), were measured at extremely high pressures up to 2.6TPa (26 Mbar) generated by high-power laser irradiation and magnetically driven hypervelocity impacts. Above 0.75TPa, the GGG Hugoniot data approach/reach a universal linear line of fluid metals, and the optical reflectivity most likely reaches a constant value indicating that GGG undergoes a crossover from fluid semiconductor to poor metal with minimum metallic conductivity (MMC). These results suggest that most fluid compounds, e.g., strong planetary oxides, reach a common state on the universal Hugoniot of fluid metals (UHFM) with MMC at sufficiently extreme pressures and temperatures. The systematic behaviors of warm dense fluid would be useful benchmarks for developing theoretical equation-of-state and transport models in the warm dense matter regime in determining computational predictions.

Materials at high pressures and temperatures are of great current interest for warm dense matter physics, planetary sciences, and inertial fusion energy research. Shock-compression equation-of-state data and optical reflectivities of the fluid dense oxide, Gcl(3)Ga(5)O(12) (GGG), were measured at extremely high pressures up to 2.6TPa (26 Mbar) generated by high-power laser irradiation and magnetically driven hypervelocity impacts. Above 0.75TPa, the GGG Hugoniot data approach/reach a universal linear line of fluid metals, and the optical reflectivity most likely reaches a constant value indicating that GGG undergoes a crossover from fluid semiconductor to poor metal with minimum metallic conductivity (MMC). These results suggest that most fluid compounds, e.g., strong planetary oxides, reach a common state on the universal Hugoniot of fluid metals (UHFM) with MMC at sufficiently extreme pressures and temperatures. The systematic behaviors of warm dense fluid would be useful benchmarks for developing theoretical equation-of-state and transport models in the warm dense matter regime in determining computational predictions.

Subcortical structures, which include the basal ganglia and parts of the limbic system, have key roles in learning, motor control and emotion, but also contribute to higher-order executive functions. Prior studies have reported volumetric alterations in subcortical regions in schizophrenia. Reported results have sometimes been heterogeneous, and few large-scale investigations have been conducted. Moreover, few large-scale studies have assessed asymmetries of subcortical volumes in schizophrenia. Here, as a work completely independent of a study performed by the ENIGMA consortium, we conducted a large-scale multisite study of subcortical volumetric differences between patients with schizophrenia and controls. We also explored the laterality of subcortical regions to identify characteristic similarities and differences between them. T1-weighted images from 1680 healthy individuals and 884 patients with schizophrenia, obtained with 15 imaging protocols at 11 sites, were processed with FreeSurfer. Group differences were calculated for each protocol and meta-analyzed. Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia demonstrated smaller bilateral hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and accumbens volumes as well as intracranial volume, but larger bilateral caudate, putamen, pallidum and lateral ventricle volumes. We replicated the rank order of effect sizes for subcortical volumetric changes in schizophrenia reported by the ENIGMA consortium. Further, we revealed leftward asymmetry for thalamus, lateral ventricle, caudate and putamen volumes, and rightward asymmetry for amygdala and hippocampal volumes in both controls and patients with schizophrenia. Also, we demonstrated a schizophrenia-specific leftward asymmetry for pallidum volume. These findings suggest the possibility of aberrant laterality in neural pathways and connectivity patterns related to the pallidum in schizophrenia.