X‐Tream quality assurance in synchrotron X‐ray microbeam radiation therapy

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a novel irradiation technique for brain tumours treatment currently under development at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France. The technique is based on the spatial fractionation of a highly brilliant synchrotron X‐ray beam into an array of microbeams using a multi‐slit collimator (MSC). After promising pre‐clinical results, veterinary trials have recently commenced requiring the need for dedicated quality assurance (QA) procedures. The quality of MRT treatment demands reproducible and precise spatial fractionation of the incoming synchrotron beam. The intensity profile of the microbeams must also be quickly and quantitatively characterized prior to each treatment for comparison with that used for input to the dose‐planning calculations. The Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (University of Wollongong, Australia) has developed an X‐ray treatment monitoring system (X‐Tream) which incorporates a high‐spatial‐resolution silicon strip detector (SSD) specifically designed for MRT. In‐air measurements of the horizontal profile of the intrinsic microbeam X‐ray field in order to determine the relative intensity of each microbeam are presented, and the alignment of the MSC is also assessed. The results show that the SSD is able to resolve individual microbeams which therefore provides invaluable QA of the horizontal field size and microbeam number and shape. They also demonstrate that the SSD used in the X‐Tream system is very sensitive to any small misalignment of the MSC. In order to allow as rapid QA as possible, a fast alignment procedure of the SSD based on X‐ray imaging with a low‐intensity low‐energy beam has been developed and is presented in this publication.     

High energy radiation fluences in the ISS-USLab: Ion discrimination and particle abundances

The ALTEA (Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts) detector was used to characterize the radiation environment inside the USLab of the International Space Station (ISS), where it measured the abundances of ions from Be to Fe. We compare the ALTEA results with Alteino results obtained in the PIRS module of the Russian segment of the ISS, and normalize to the high energy Si abundances given by Simpson. These are the first particle spectral measurements, which include ions up to Fe, performed in the USLab. The small differences observed between those made inside the USLab and the Simpson abundances can be attributed to the transport through the spacecraft hull. However, the low abundance of Fe cannot be attributed to only this process.     

Experimental evidence of guided-resonances in photonic crystals with aperiodically ordered supercells

We report on the first experimental evidence of guided resonances (GRs) in photonic crystal slabs based on aperiodically ordered supercells. Using Ammann-Beenker (quasiperiodic, eightfold symmetric) tiling geometry, we present our study on the fabrication, experimental characterization, and full-wave numerical simulation of two representative structures (with different filling parameters) operating at near-IR wavelengths (1300-1600 nm). Our results show a fairly good agreement between measurements and numerical predictions and pave the way for the development of new strategies (based on, e.g., the lattice symmetry breaking) for GR engineering.     

Direct measurement of the flow field around swimming microorganisms

Swimming microorganisms create flows that influence their mutual interactions and modify the rheology of their suspensions. While extensively studied theoretically, these flows have not been measured in detail around any freely-swimming microorganism. We report such measurements for the microphytes Volvox carteri and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The minute (～0.3%) density excess of V. carteri over water leads to a strongly dominant Stokeslet contribution, with the widely-assumed stresslet flow only a correction to the subleading source dipole term. This implies that suspensions of V. carteri have features similar to suspensions of sedimenting particles. The flow in the region around C. reinhardtii where significant hydrodynamic interaction is likely to occur differs qualitatively from a puller stresslet, and can be described by a simple three-Stokeslet model.     

Entropy-driven enhanced self-diffusion in confined reentrant supernematics

We present a molecular dynamics study of reentrant nematic phases using the Gay-Berne-Kihara model of a liquid crystal in nanoconfinement. At densities above those characteristic of smectic A phases, reentrant nematic phases form that are characterized by a large value of the nematic order parameter S?1. Along the nematic director these "supernematic" phases exhibit a remarkably high self-diffusivity, which exceeds that for ordinary, lower-density nematic phases by an order of magnitude. Enhancement of self-diffusivity is attributed to a decrease of rotational configurational entropy in confinement. Recent developments in the pulsed field gradient NMR technique are shown to provide favorable conditions for an experimental confirmation of our simulations.     

一种新颖结构的高温超导信道滤波器设计

文章提出了一种新颖结构的高温超导信道滤波器设计方法,采用Sonnet软件进行微带电路的全波电磁场仿真.设计了一个一分二的高温超导信道滤波器,信道滤波器工作在S波段,每个信道的相对带宽约为0.4‰,采用的材料为多源热共蒸发法制备的DyBCO双面超导薄膜,衬底为0.5mm厚度的氧化镁.本文给出了本信道滤波器的等效电路、理论曲线、耦合参数和模拟仿真结果.     

On the mechanism of decomposition of the benzyl radical

The C₇H₇ potential energy surface was studied from first principles to determine the benzyl radical decomposition mechanism. The investigated high temperature reaction pathway involves 15 accessible energy wells connected by 25 transition states. The analysis of the potential energy surface, performed determining kinetic constants of each elementary reaction using conventional transition state theory, evidenced that the reaction mechanism has as rate determining step the isomerization of the 1,3-cyclopentadiene, 5-vinyl radical to the 2-cyclopentene,5-ethenylidene radical and that the fastest reaction channel is dissociation to fulvenallene and hydrogen. This is in agreement with the literature evidences reporting that benzyl decomposes to hydrogen and a C₇H₆ species. The benzyl high-pressure decomposition rate constant estimated assuming equilibrium between the rate determining step transition state and benzyl is k₁(T) = 1.44 × 10¹³T^0.453exp(−38400/T) s⁻¹, in good agreement with the literature data. As fulvenallene reactivity is mostly unknown, we investigated its reaction with hydrogen, which has been proposed in the literature as a possible decomposition route. The reaction proceeds fast both backward to form again benzyl and, if hydrogen adds to allene, forward toward the decomposition into the cyclopentadienyl radical and acetylene with high-pressure kinetic constants k₂(T) = 8.82 × 10⁸T^1.20exp(1016/T) and k₃(T) = 1.06 × 10⁸T^1.35exp(1716/T) cm³/mol/s, respectively. The computed rate constants were then inserted in a detailed kinetic mechanism and used to simulate shock tube literature experiments.     

双向抽运拉曼光纤放大器性能的研究

对双向抽运拉曼光纤放大器(RFA)的噪声特性、增益饱和及抽运功率转换效率进行了详细研究。结果表明,双向抽运拉曼光纤放大器的噪声特性介于前向抽运与后向抽运之间,但主要取决于前向抽运方式所导致的噪声特性;双向抽运方式的饱和功率低于单向抽运方式的饱和功率,同前向抽运与后向抽运提供的增益比例有关;双向抽运方式的抽运功率转换效率同信号光功率及前、后向抽运提供的增益有关,当信号光功率较低时,增加前向抽运的比例可取得较高的抽运功率转换效率,而信号光功率较高时,增加后向抽运的比例可取得较高的抽运功率转换效率。研究一种配置(情况3)的双向抽运拉曼光纤放大器,可以完全补偿100km传输线路的损耗(包括无源器件的损耗),最低光信噪比为30．21dB。