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Although luminescence imaging of water during irradiation by particle ions is a promising method for dose estimation, it has only been tried for static images in which temporal information is not included. In addition to the positional distribution of the beam, temporal information is also important because the beams from a synchrotron-based therapy system have short pulse shapes called spills. The temporal information is also important for high dose rate, short-time radiotherapy, or so-called FLASH radiotherapy. To measure the particle ion beam distributions with precise temporal information, we conducted short time sequential luminescence imaging of protons. First, we measured short time sequential luminescence images during irradiation of a water phantom by 150-MeV protons using a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera at 0.143-s intervals. With this imaging, the images showed beam distributions, but the shapes of the spill were not precisely evaluated in time intensity curves due to the insufficient sampling rate of the imaging. Then we measured short time sequential optical images with 0.053-s intervals. With this imaging, the images showed that the beam distributions in the spill shape could be measured, but the image and depth profiles evaluated from the images were noisy due to the insufficient light intensity. Consequently, we measured short time sequential luminescence images during irradiation of fluorescein (FS) water by 150-MeV protons. Since FS water produced ∼10 times higher luminescence, we could obtain high-intensity images enabling us to evaluate the time intensity curves based on the shape of the spills during measurement with 0.053-s intervals. The depth profiles of the beam were also obtained from the measured images. With these results, we confirmed that time sequential luminescence imaging was possible and, in such cases, FS water images measured at 0.053-s intervals are most promising to measure the short time sequential luminescence images during irradiation of protons.

Even though the management operation guidelines have been determined, the optimal management of the Citarum Cascade Reservoir has not yet been achieved. Optimal management of cascade reservoirs in an integrated manner is difficult to be carried out due to complex operating procedures and high uncertainty of hydrological components. So, research on the optimal management of each reservoir considering the discharge forecasting model as input discharge (Qin) was proposed. The objective of this study was to optimize Cirata Reservoir’s operational management. Hence all raw water demands are met without any water wasted through the spillway, as indicated by the correlation between inflow discharge (historical and model) and the correlation between trajectory (guideline and actual). In this case, discharge forecasting methods used were Discrete Markov and ARIMA. The continuous with five years return period (R5 continuous), continuous with ten years return period (R10 continuous), 3-classes Discrete Markov, and 5-classes Discrete Markov methods were applied for guideline trajectories. Based on the results, the correlation coefficients between inflow discharge were 0.63 (3-Classes Discrete Markov); 0.78 (5-Classes Discrete Markov); and 0.68 (ARIMA (1,0,0)(1,0,1) & ARIMA (0,0,2)(1,0,1)). Optimization simulations were carried out for 16 scenarios with combinations of four discharge models and four guideline trajectories during the 2016-2020 period. Based on the research, the scenario by the 5-Classes Discrete Markov discharge model and the R10 continuous guideline trajectory is the most optimal management of the Cirata Reservoir, with a correlation coefficient between the trajectory was 0.91.

Fast heating efficiency when a pre-imploded core is directly heated with an ultraintense laser (heating laser) was investigated. ‘Direct heating’ means that a heating laser hits a pre-imploded core without applying either a laser guiding cone or an external field. The efficiency, η, is defined as the increase in the internal core energy divided by the energy of the heating laser. Six beams (output of 1.6 kJ) from the GEKKO XII (GXII) green laser system at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University were applied to implode a spherical deuterated polystyrene (CD) shell target to form a dense core. The DD-reacted protons and the core x-ray emissions showed a core density of 2.8 ± 0.7 g cm−3, or 2.6 times the solid density. Furthermore, DD-reacted thermal neutrons were utilized to estimate the core temperature between 600 and 750 eV. Thereafter, the core was directly heated by a laser for fast-ignition experiments (LFEX, an extremely energetic ultrashort pulse laser) at ILE with its axis lying along or perpendicular to the GXII bundle axis, respectively. The former and latter laser configurations were termed ‘axial’ and ‘transverse modes’, respectively. The η was estimated from three independent methods: (1) the core x-ray emission, (2) the thermal neutron yield, and (3) the runaway hot electron spectra. For the axial mode, 0.8% < η < 2.1% at low power (low LFEX energy) and 0.4% < η < 2.5% at high power (high LFEX energy). For the transverse mode, 2.6% < η < 7% at low power and 1.5% < η < 7.7% at high power. Their efficiencies were compared with that in the uniform implosion mode using 12 GXII beams, 6% < η < 12%, which appeared near to the η for the transverse mode, except that the error bar is very large.

Although optical imaging of electron beams and X-rays from medical linear accelerators (LINAC) is a possible method for dose distribution measurements, it has been limited to two-dimensional (2D) projection images. For the precise measurement of an optical image of electron beams and X-rays, three-dimensional (3D) imaging is desired. To measure 3D dose distributions, we conducted imaging of electron beams and X-rays using a plastic scintillator plate set in a water phantom. When this plate was immersed in the water phantom, irradiation with electron beams or X-rays was carried out from along the plate's sides. Optical images of the scintillator plate were acquired using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera from the side during irradiation with electron beams and X-rays. Measurements were conducted at 6 MeV, 9 MeV and 12 MeV for electron beams and at 6 MV and 10 MV for X-rays. The imaging system was set on the bed of the LINAC and moved at 10-mm steps perpendicular to the beam direction to acquire a set of sliced optical images of the beams. A set of these sliced images were stacked and interpolated to form 3D optical images. For the 3D images, after the correction of the Cherenkov-light component in the images, the relative depth and lateral doses were evaluated. From the relative depth doses of electron beams, the half-value depths could be evaluated within an error of 1.3 mm. Lateral widths could be evaluated within an error of less than 2 mm parallel to the plastic scintillator and less than 6.5 mm perpendicular to it. From the relative depth doses of X-rays, the average difference between the measured value and that by a planning system was within an error of 2 %. Lateral widths could be evaluated within an error of less than 0.68 mm parallel to the plastic scintillator and less than 2.6 mm perpendicular to it. We confirmed that 3D imaging of electron beams and X-rays using plastic scintillator plate is feasible and is a promising method for measuring dose images at any position.

Quality assurance (QA) of the source movement is essential for ensuring the safe delivery of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Here, we proposed a simple and effective method for real-time tracking of the source movement in high-dose-rate brachytherapy based on Cherenkov emission imaging. The Cherenkov light emitted from water irradiated by 192Ir-source γ-rays was captured using a high-sensitivity video camera. The source positions and dwell intervals were determined from the light images and compared with the preset values. The source dwell times and transit speeds were measured from the time course of the source positions. The brightness profiles were compared with the dose distributions provided by the treatment planning system. The source movements were visualized in real time as a movie of Cherenkov light emissions. The source positional intervals measured from the Cherenkov emission images agreed well to the preset values within 0.3 mm. The source dwell times were comparable to the preset values within 0.2 s, and the transit speeds were similar to those of previous reports. The brightness distributions agreed with the dose distributions within approximately 40%, except near the source center. The proposed Cherenkov method has good potential for tracking the source movement in real time in brachytherapy, as it could enable simultaneous measurements of the source positions, dwell times, and dose distributions.

We produced high-energy neutrons by p + Be and d + Be reactions with protons and deuterons with continuous energies of up to 30 and 10 MeV/u, respectively, provided from laser-plasma interactions. Thermal neutrons were subsequently generated through deceleration by a small moderator with conjunction on the Be target. Here, we report the measurements on the thermal neutron fluence using the activation method with/without Cd filters. The unstable isotopes of 198Au, 56Mn, 60Co, and 181Hf were produced through (n, γ) reactions by a single laser shot. The nuclear reaction fractions were evaluated by measuring the γ-rays emitted from these unstable isotopes. The thermal neutron fluences from the four nuclides are consistent within their experimental uncertainties. The fluence is evaluated to be (2.2 ± 0.4) × 105 neutrons cm−2 at the distance of approximately 9 mm at 90° against the laser axis. The present result shows that the method to generate thermal neutrons from a compact neutron source with a diameter of 44 mm and length of 46 mm is expected to be a useful tool for various nuclear experiments and applications.

Neutron beams have been providing indispensable tools for a wide range of fields in modern science and engineering. Recently, a new type of pulsed neutron source has been developed, known as laser-driven neutron source (LDNS). The LDNSs utilize laser-accelerated ions, including protons and deuterons as a primary beam and generate neutrons from a secondary target (lithium, beryllium, etc) via a nuclear reaction. Applying an additional moderator part, LDNSs can provide a broad energy range of neutrons (meV ∼ MeV). This paper aims to introduce the current status of LDNS and the results of application-oriented experiments implemented at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE) of Japan.

Thermal neutron (∼25 meV) beam is a powerful tool for investigating the structure and properties of materials used in science and technology. A laser-driven neutron source generating 1010 neutrons within 1 ns duration is utilized to a single shot radiography with a dual beam of thermal neutrons and X-rays. As a proof of principle, we show the non-destructive inspection of hazardous substances (Cadmium) contained in a typical battery, when the cadmium anode thickness is evaluated from the transmittance of thermal neutrons. The fact that the neutron inspection above is performed with a single laser shot, i.e. with a single bunch of neutrons leads to a safer neutron source that is optically controlled on/off, and provides a novel tool for science and engineering.

Study of warm dense matter remains a very important task for understanding of many unique phenomena observing as in astrophysical research as in inertial fusion and fast ignition. In this work, we studied the parameters of plasma created by 1.7 ps laser pulses of relativistic intensity of 7 × 1018W/cm2in a specially designed Al–Cu wire-shape target, in comparison with a flat Cu and Al foil targets. We observed the strong emission of neutral or virtually neutral CuKαline from both Cu foil and Cu wire part of targets, which indicates the creation of a dense state exposed to the intense flow of hot electrons. Parameters of the plasma were evaluated by comparison of experimental spectra with the results of modeling by collisional-radiative kinetic code PrismSpec under the plasma zone approach. The using of Al foil in front of Cu wire part of target allowed avoiding the direct heating of Cu-wire and acquiring spectra of Cu K-shell emission evidently belonging to emission of warm dense matter (WDM) state. The upper estimate for the electron temperature in WDM region was found to be below 80 eV.

Urban in Indonesia, is no longer limited as a center of community settlement. Now the city also functions as a center of government, a central hierarchy, and a center of economic growth. As a logical consequence of the role of cities as a center of growth and economy, urban contributions to national economic growth are increasing. To overcome this problem, a portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system was designed. With the portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system, the dryer will be easily moved and flexible to use. The advantage of portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system is the drying process could be done continuously with a little human power. Therefore, this portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system is designed to use renewable energy sources. To examine the portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system, the foodstuff was used for a testing of ingredients. The portable conveyor of solar-energized drying system testing show that the amount of water content in the foodstuff reduced, the drying rate accelerate. In addition, the amount of heat energy needed for the drying process also reduced. Hence process of drying foodstuff more efficienct.

In this work, the formability of Al-Mg-Si aluminum alloy sheets during hot stamping has been improved by controlling the press motion. In the hot stamping, a heated blank sheet is cooled partially by contacting with the dies; therefore, its deformation proceeds non-isothermally. The resulting temperature distribution leads to cracking at low forming depths during deep drawing despite the excellent tensile properties of the alloy at high temperatures. Local deformation, i.e. necking, tends to occur in a high-temperature area that is not in contact with the dies until the press reaches the bottom dead center. To suppress this deformation, the potential cracking area near the walls was cooled and hardened by holding the heated blank sheet between the blank holder and the upper die before the forming step. The proposed technique was applied to the square cup forming of a 1.0 mm thick 6000 series aluminum alloy sheet. As a result, the forming limit depth was increased to twice depth with 1.0-s die-holding duration before the forming step as compared to that obtained for the standard hot stamping procedure without the press motion control.

The measurements of the three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution of proton beams in water are critical for proton therapy for quality assessment (QA). Although ionization chambers are commonly used for this purpose, such measurements take a long time to calculate precise 3D dose distribution. To solve this problem, we measured 3D dose distributions using a glass plate. We placed a 1-mm thick float glass plate on the upper inside of a black box with a water phantom set above the float glass plate outside the black box and irradiated the proton beam to the water phantom from the upper side. The attenuated proton beam by water in the phantom was detected by the float glass plate and a scintillation image was formed in the plate. The image was reflected by a surface mirror set below the float glass plate and detected by a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera from the side. We changed the water depths in the phantom and measured the scintillation images at each depth. Then we calculated the 3D scintillation images from the measured images by stacking them in the depth direction. Measurements were made for 71.2- and 100-MeV proton pencil beams and a spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) using the imaging system. From the images, we successfully formed 3D scintillation images without quenching. The depth profiles measured from the scintillation images showed almost identical distribution with those measured by the ionization chamber within a difference less than 5%. The lateral profiles were also almost identical within width differences less than 2 mm. We conclude that our proposed method is promising for the 3D dose distribution measurements of proton beams.

Increasing of dry areas for Oil Palm plantation due to climate change led the breeders to develop drought stress, tolerant palm. Characterization of genetic materials for their physiological and genetic properties is required. Two distinct progenies derived from Tanzanian origin used for more adaptive to unwatered stress, and Nigerian origin used for more sensitive, were subjected for analysis. Physiological related variables were observed for sap flow, water potential, soil water content, greenhouse temperature and relative humidity, stomatal density, stomatal pore width, and proline content. The Tanzanian origin has more stable in sap flow, longer water potential detected, more adaptive in stomatal closure, and a lower in proline content than Nigerian origins. The genome comparison of both materials was performed by double digest Restriction Associated DNA and captured 299 294 SNPs. It found 9.3 % of those SNPs that were having a different allele with a minor frequency between progenies. And, 0.7 % from filtered SNPs were located and distributed in 167 genes. Two SNP markers were located in aquaporin NIP1-1 gene that related to water translocation between cells. One SNP marker was located in glutamate receptor 2.7-like gene that related to glutamate release and proline biosynthesis. The remaining SNPs will be in further analyzed.

Coffee flour (CF) from coffee pulp or husk, solid waste of coffee processing have launched in Canada since 2015. This product is claimed as certified of gluten-free, vegan, kosher, paleo, and non-GMO. Coffe flour is stated to contain three times Fe content than fresh spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). Several receipts of cookies, donuts, and cakes using CF has been introduced as wheat flour substitution. However, the scientific publication of CF impact for health does not appear until August 2018 yet. A review has been carried out using data on Google with a maximum publication age of 15 yr. This Fe non-heme prospect is allegedly unable to be absorbed optimally by the organism. Coffee pulp and husk contain an inhibitor, such as caffeine, polyphenol, calcium, dietary fiber, manganese, magnesium, and zinc; which detain Fe absorption. On the other hand, the promoter/enhancer of Fe absorption such as vitamin C, vitamin A, and amino acid was decreased in CF processing. Several types of research have to be conducted to tackle this problem in Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry University Muhammadyah of Malang, Indonesia.

The oil palm conventional breeding is faced with many challenges, including the long breeding cycle and limited genetic variations available from the existing breeding populations. Recent genomic research revealed the genetic properties of various oil palm populations and could be exploited by recombining favorable alleles through molecular breeding and selection. In aimed to discover high quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) sampled from 236 diverse genetic backgrounds palms, a paired-end ddRAD-sequencing was employed to discover allelic variations. Whole 195.62 Gb clean data were generated using ddRAD-seq. After stringent filtering, 8 189 SNPs in the annotated genes were discovered based on the oil palm EG05 reference genome. The high polymorphism rate was observed across the assayed populations, whereby 29 % of loci showed moderate to high putative impact on amino acid changes in silico as predicted by SnpEff software. The Angola and Deli origins seemed to have undergone inbreeding as reflected by the fixation index and the lower observed heterozygosity compared to expected heterozygosity. Assessment of genetic stratification and structure was not strong enough to differentiate the core breeding materials according to their prior genetic backgrounds. The results demonstrated the robustness and high-throuputness of ddRAD sequencing method for SNP discovery.

A magnetic thrust chamber is an important system of a laser fusion rocket, in which the plasma kinetic energy is converted into vehicle thrust by a magnetic field. To investigate the plasma extraction from the system, the ions in a plasma are diagnosed outside the system by charge collectors. The results clearly show that the ion extraction does not strongly depend on the magnetic field strength when the energy ratio of magnetic field to plasma is greater than 4.3, and the magnetic field pushes back the plasma to generate a thrust, as previously suggested by numerical simulation and experiments.

Reduction-resistant lead-free (Ba,Ca)(Ti,Sn)O3 piezoceramics with high piezoelectric constants were fabricated by optimizing the amount of Li2CO3 added. Oxygen partial pressure was controlled during the sintering of (Ba,Ca)(Ti,Sn)O3 ceramics in a reducing atmosphere using H2–CO2 gas. Enhanced grain growth and a high-polarization state after poling treatment were achieved by adding Li2CO3. Optimizing the amount of Li2CO3 added to (Ba0.95Ca0.05)(Ti0.95Sn0.05)O3 ceramics sintered under a low oxygen partial pressure resulted in improved piezoelectric properties while maintaining the high sintered density. The prepared Li2CO3-added ceramic samples had homogeneous microstructures with a uniform dispersion of each major constituent element. However, the residual Li content in the 3 mol % Li2CO3-added (Ba0.95Ca0.05)(Ti0.95Sn0.05)O3 ceramics after sintering was less than 0.3 mol %. Sintered bodies of this ceramic prepared in a CO2 (1.5%)–H2 (0.3%)/Ar reducing atmosphere (PO2 = 10−8 atm at 1350 °C), exhibited sufficient electrical resistivity and a piezoelectric constant (d 33) exceeding 500 pC/N. The piezoelectric properties of this nonreducible ceramic were comparable or superior to those of the same ceramic sintered in air.

Polarized second-harmonic-generation (SHG) spectroscopy was studied for Au nanorods arrayed on fused silica substrates at localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonances. The geometry of the nanorods is centrosymmetric and electric dipolar second-order nonlinearities are forbidden for such a geometry. However, second-order nonlinearities are permitted for rods with sizes comparable to light wavelengths by taking advantage of the field retardation effect across the rods. In the study, we demonstrated SHG by photoexciting nanorods at an oblique incidence in two optical configurations. Independent of the configuration, efficient SHG was obtained when the excitation light was polarized in the LSP direction. The SHG waves were p-polarized, irrespective of the configuration and the excitation light polarization. The polarization behaviors were well reproduced by using numerically simulated field distributions. This comprehensive study classified the roles of the field retardation in the second-order nonlinearities of Au nanorods.

Lead-free ferroelectric K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN) thin films have been synthesized by the chemical solution deposition. The optimization of excess amounts of K and Na in KNN precursor solutions was found to be effective for achieving perovskite KNN single-phase thin films with improved leakage current properties. It was revealed from Raman spectroscopic analysis data that a change in scattering mode was observed for the KNN thin films fabricated under various processing conditions. This change was due to the chemical composition fluctuation of K and Na in the KNN thin films after heat treatment. The leakage current and ferroelectric properties of the perovskite KNN thin films were strongly affected by the excess amounts of K and Na as well as the heating conditions of the precursor films. Optimized KNN thin films with 10 mol % excess K and Na exhibited a ferroelectric polarization–electric field (P–E) hysteresis loop with 2Pr and 2Ec values of 14 µC/cm2 and 140 kV/cm, respectively.

A laser-driven proton beam with a maximum energy of a few MeV is stably obtained using an ultra-short and high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser. At the same time, keV X-ray is also generated at almost the same place where protons are emitted. Here, we show the successful demonstration of simultaneous proton and X-ray projection images of a test sample placed close to the source with a resolution of ~10 µm, which is determined from the source sizes. Although the experimental configuration is very simple, the simultaneity is better than a few hundreds of ps. A CR-39 track detector and imaging plate, which are placed as close as possible to the CR-39, are used as detectors of protons and X-ray. The technique is applicable to the precise observation of microstructures.

A short-pulse (~210 fs) high-power (~1 TW) laser was focused on a tape target 3 and 5 µm in thickness to a size of 11×15 µm2 with an intensity of 3×1017 W/cm2. Protons produced by this laser with an energy spread of 100% were found to be improved to create peaks in the energy distribution with a spread of ~7% by the application of the RF electric field with an amplitude of ±40 kV synchronous to the pulsed laser. This scheme combines the conventional RF acceleration technique with laser-produced protons for the first time. It is possible to be operated up to 10 Hz, and is found to have good reproducibility for every laser shot with the capability of adjusting the peak positions by control of the relative phase between the pulsed laser and the RF electric field.

Perovskite (1-x)BiFeO3–xPbTiO3 thin films have been synthesized by the chemical solution deposition of metalorganic compounds. Homogeneous and stable BiFeO3–PbTiO3 precursor solutions were prepared by selecting appropriate starting materials and 2-methoxyethanol as a solvent. Perovskite BiFeO3–PbTiO3 powder samples with a composition ranging from x=0.1 to 0.5 showed weak ferromagnetism at room temperature. Perovskite BiFeO3–PbTiO3 single-phase thin films on Pt/TiOx/SiO2/Si substrates with good surface morphology were also fabricated by optimizing the PbTiO3 content. Ferroelectric polarization–electric field (P–E) hysteresis loops were observed for 0.7BiFeO3–0.3PbTiO3 thin films, although some leakage current components are included at room temperature. The electrical resistivity of the BiFeO3–PbTiO3 films was improved in the low temperature region, and the remnant polarization and coercive field of the 700 °C-prepared 0.7BiFeO3–0.3PbTiO3 thin films at -190 °C were approximately 50 µC/cm2 and 150 kV/cm, respectively. Furthermore, Mn doping into BiFeO3–PbTiO3 was effective in improving the ferroelectric properties of the resultant thin films at room temperature.