Ionization dynamics and x-ray transmission of aluminum plasma at temperature reaching 110 eV.

In this research, ∼0.14-micron-thick aluminum tamped by plastic is heated up to ∼110eV by the x-ray pulse from the Z-pinch-driven dynamic Hohlraum on an 8-MA machine in China. After an ∼6-ns heating stage, higher-energy xrays from an ∼2-ns- long backlight pulse pass through the hot aluminum.

Engineered protein cages with enhanced extracellular drug release for elevated antitumor efficacy.

Human heavy chain ferritin (HFn) protein cage has been explored as a nanocarrier for targeted anticancer drug delivery. Here, we introduced a matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-cleavable sequence into the DE loop of HFn, creating an MMP-responsive variant, MR-HFn, for localized and extracellular drug release. The crystal structure of MR-HFn revealed that the addition of the MMPs recognition sequence did not affect the self-assembly of HFn but presented a surface-exposed loop susceptible to MMPs cleavage.

Restoration of saturated outputs from microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes in sub-microsecond single-pulse-current mode.

Microchannel plate (MCP) photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are frequently used in experimental diagnostics, where they are operated in single-pulse current measurement mode. However, considering the significant amplitude fluctuations in the measured signal, the resulting output signal from the MCP-PMT is inevitably distorted by gain saturation. Therefore, understanding the correlation between the MCP-PMT output signal and gain saturation is critical in assessing the extent of output signal distortion and determining the MCP-PMT saturation level.

Identification of Antithrombotic Natural Products Targeting the Major Substrate Binding Pocket of Protein Disulfide Isomerase.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a vital oxidoreductase. Extracellular PDI promotes thrombus formation but does not affect physiological blood hemostasis. Inhibition of extracellular PDI has been demonstrated as a promising strategy for antithrombotic treatment.

Applications of thin film plastic scintillator in measurement of soft x rays generated from Z-pinch implosion.

A thin film plastic scintillator detector has been developed for the measurement of radiation power and yield of soft x rays produced from Z-pinch implosion. To enable soft x-ray measurements using plastic scintillators, the detector geometry has been specially designed to minimize visible light and alleviate nonlinear behavior. Energy response has been calibrated, and saturation effects have been explored and described in details.

A free-standing thin foil bolometer for measuring soft x-ray fluence.

A free-standing thin foil bolometer for measuring soft x-ray fluence in z-pinch experiments is developed. For the first time, we present the determination of its sensitivity by different methods. The results showed great consistency for the different methods, which confirms the validity of the sensitivity and provides confidence for its application in z-pinch experiments.

Measurements of high energy photons in Z-pinch experiments on primary test stand.

High energy photons are measured for the first time in wire-array Z-pinch experiments on the Primary Test Stand (PTS) which delivers a current up to 8 MA with a rise time of 70 ns. A special designed detecting system composed of three types of detectors is used to measure the average energy, intensity, and pulse waveform of high energy photons. Results from Pb-TLD (thermoluminescence dosimeter) detector indicate that the average energy is 480 keV (±15%).