Potential common radiation problems for components and diagnostics in future magnetic and inertial confinement fusion devices

This work aims at identifying common potential problems that future fusion devices will encounter for both magnetic (MC) and inertial (IC) confinement approaches in order to promote joint efforts and to avoid duplication of research

Subcritical multiplicative chaos for regularized counting statistics from random matrix theory

For an N×N random unitary matrix U_N, we consider the random field defined by counting the number of eigenvalues of U_N in a mesoscopic arc of the unit circle, regularized at an N-dependent scale Ɛ_N>0. We prove that the renormalized exponential of this field converges as N → ∞ to a Gaussian multiplicative chaos measure in the whole subcritical phase. In addition, we show that the moments of the total mass converge to a Selberg-like integral and by taking a further limit as the size of the arc diverges, we establish part of the conjectures in [55]. By an analogous construction, we prove that the multiplicative chaos measure coming from the sine process has the same distribution, which strongly suggests that this limiting object should be universal. The proofs are based on the asymptotic analysis of certain Toeplitz or Fredholm determinants using the Borodin-Okounkov formula or a Riemann-Hilbert problem for integrable operators. Our approach to the L¹-phase is based on a generalization of the construction in Berestycki [5] to random fields which are only asymptotically Gaussian. In particular, our method could have applications to other random fields coming from either random matrix theory or a different context

Experimental Evidence of a Variant Neutron Spectrum from the T(t,2n)α Reaction at Center-of-Mass Energies in the Range of 16–50 keV

Full calculations of six-nucleon reactions with a three-body final state have been elusive and a long-standing issue. We present neutron spectra from the T(t,2n)α (TT) reaction measured in inertial confinement fusion experiments at the OMEGA laser facility at ion temperatures from 4 to 18 keV, corresponding to center-of-mass energies (E[subscript c.m.]) from 16 to 50 keV. A clear difference in the shape of the TT-neutron spectrum is observed between the two E[subscript c.m.], with the ⁵He ground state resonant peak at 8.6 MeV being significantly stronger at the higher than at the lower energy. The data provide the first conclusive evidence of a variant TT-neutron spectrum in this E[subscript c.m.] range. In contrast to earlier available data, this indicates a reaction mechanism that must involve resonances and/or higher angular momenta than L=0. This finding provides an important experimental constraint on theoretical efforts that explore this and complementary six-nucleon systems, such as the solar ³He(³He,2p)α reaction

X-ray imaging in an environment with high-neutron background on National Ignition Facility

Abstract not provide

New results for the SQCD Hilbert series

We derive new explicit results for the Hilbert series of N=1 supersymmetric QCD with U(N_c) and SU(N_c) color symmetry. We use two methods which have previously been applied to similar computational problems in the analysis of decay of unstable D-branes: expansions using Schur polynomials, and the log-gas approach related to random matrix theory.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figures; v2: references and comments on the 3rd order phase transition added; v3: refs. correcte

Reverse engineering synthetic antiviral amyloids

Human amyloids have been shown to interact with viruses and interfere with viral replication. Based on this observation, we employed a synthetic biology approach in which we engineered virus-specific amyloids against influenza A and Zika proteins. Each amyloid shares a homologous aggregation-prone fragment with a specific viral target protein. For influenza we demonstrate that a designer amyloid against PB2 accumulates in influenza A-infected tissue in vivo. Moreover, this amyloid acts specifically against influenza A and its common PB2 polymorphisms, but not influenza B, which lacks the homologous fragment. Our model amyloid demonstrates that the sequence specificity of amyloid interactions has the capacity to tune amyloid-virus interactions while allowing for the flexibility to maintain activity on evolutionary diverging variants. Some human amyloid proteins have been shown to interact with viral proteins, suggesting that they may have potential as therapeutic agents. Here the authors design synthetic amyloids specific for influenza A and Zika virus proteins, respectively, and show that they can inhibit viral replication

Performance Improvements to the Neutron Imaging System at the National Ignition Facility

A team headed by LANL and including many members from LLNL and NSTec LO and NSTec LAO fielded a neutron imaging system (NIS) at the National Ignition Facility at the start of 2011. The NIS consists of a pinhole array that is located 32.5 cm from the source and that creates an image of the source in a segmented scintillator 28 m from the source. The scintillator is viewed by two gated, optical imaging systems: one that is fiber coupled, and one that is lens coupled. While there are a number of other pieces to the system related to pinhole alignment, collimation, shielding and data acquisition, those pieces are discussed elsewhere and are not relevant here. The system is operational and has successfully obtained data on more that ten imaging shots. This remainder of this whitepaper is divided in five main sections. In Section II, we identify three critical areas of improvement that we believe should be pursued to improve the performance of the system for future experiments: spatial resolution, temporal response and signal-to-noise ratio. In Section III, we discuss technologies that could be used to improve these critical performance areas. In Section IV, we describe a path to evolve the current system to achieve improved performance with minimal impact on the ability of the system to operate on shots. In Section V, we discuss the abilities, scope and timescales of the current teams and the Commissariat energie atomique (CEA). In Section VI, we summarize and make specific recommendations for collaboration on improvements to the NIS

Assessment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in primary colorectal carcinomas and their related metastases on tissue sections and tissue microarray

Metastatic colorectal carcinomas (CRC) resistant to chemotherapy may benefit from targeting monoclonal therapy cetuximab when they express the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Because of its clinical implications, we studied EGFR expression by immunohistochemistry on tissue sections of primary CRC (n=32) and their related metastases (n=53). A tissue microarray (TMA) was generated from the same paraffin blocks to determine whether this technique could be used for EGFR screening in CRC. On tissue sections, 84% of the primary CRC and 94% of the metastases were EGFR-positive. When matched, they showed a concordant EGFR-positive status in 78% of the cases. Moreover, staining intensity and extent of EGFR-positive cells in the primary CRC correlated with those observed in the synchronous metastases. On TMA, 65% of the primary CRC, 66% of the metastases, and 43% of the matched primary CRC metastases were EGFR-positive. There was no concordant EGFR status between the primary and the metastatic sites. A strong discrepancy of EGFR status was noted between TMA and tissue sections. In conclusion, EGFR expression measured in tissue sections from primary CRC and their related metastases was found to be similar and frequent, but it was significantly underestimated by the TMA technique

Immune monitoring and TCR sequencing of CD4 T cells in a long term responsive patient with metastasized pancreatic ductal carcinoma treated with individualized, neoepitope-derived multipeptide vaccines : a case report

Abstract Background Cancer vaccines can effectively establish clinically relevant tumor immunity. Novel sequencing approaches rapidly identify the mutational fingerprint of tumors, thus allowing to generate personalized tumor vaccines within a few weeks from diagnosis. Here, we report the case of a 62-year-old patient receiving a four-peptide-vaccine targeting the two sole mutations of his pancreatic tumor, identified via exome sequencing. Methods Vaccination started during chemotherapy in second complete remission and continued monthly thereafter. We tracked IFN-γ+ T cell responses against vaccine peptides in peripheral blood after 12, 17 and 34 vaccinations by analyzing T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire diversity and epitope-binding regions of peptide-reactive T-cell lines and clones. By restricting analysis to sorted IFN-γ-producing T cells we could assure epitope-specificity, functionality, and TH1 polarization. Results A peptide-specific T-cell response against three of the four vaccine peptides could be detected sequentially. Molecular TCR analysis revealed a broad vaccine-reactive TCR repertoire with clones of discernible specificity. Four identical or convergent TCR sequences could be identified at more than one time-point, indicating timely persistence of vaccine-reactive T cells. One dominant TCR expressing a dual TCRVα chain could be found in three T-cell clones. The observed T-cell responses possibly contributed to clinical outcome: The patient is alive 6 years after initial diagnosis and in complete remission for 4 years now. Conclusions Therapeutic vaccination with a neoantigen-derived four-peptide vaccine resulted in a diverse and long-lasting immune response against these targets which was associated with prolonged clinical remission. These data warrant confirmation in a larger proof-of concept clinical trial