Influence of correlated collisions on Stark-broadened lines in plasmas

International audienceAn investigation of spectral line broadening in plasmas is carried out within a kinetic-theory approach, based on the Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy. The model employs a resummation procedure to account for correlated emitter-perturber collisions. Applications to hydrogen lines indicate that such collisions strongly affect the width and the shape in the core region. This argument is supported by comparisons to numerical simulations. It is also shown that the usual collision operator models, based on a binary description of emitter-perturber collisions, can be extremely inaccurate. The present model, in a better agreement with numerical simulations, is suggested as an extension suitable for the design of fast and accurate numerical routines for plasma diagnostics

Divergence of the Stark collision operator at large impact parameters in plasma spectroscopy models

International audienceThe divergence that occurs at large impact parameters in Stark collision operators is examined for low-density hydrogen plasmas. In a previous work [Rosato, Capes, and Stamm, Phys. Rev. E \textbf{86}, 046407 (2012)], we showed that the correlations between a radiating atom and the charged particles surrounding it affect the mean evolution of the atom, resulting in a mitigation of the Stark broadening near the line center. In this work, we examine the physical mechanism underlying this mitigation with an approach inspired from the standard semi-classical impact model. Our approach accounts for the atom-perturber correlations in a simple fashion, through a cut-off at large impact parameters, and embraces the impact model in the weakly coupled plasma limit. Comparisons with numerical simulations are performed and indicate a good agreement

Ideal Coulomb plasma approximation in line shape models: problematic issues

International audienceIn weakly coupled plasmas, it is common to describe the microfield using a Debye model. We examine here an “artificial” ideal one-component plasma with an infinite Debye length, which has been used for the test of line shape codes. We show that the infinite Debye length assumption can lead to a misinterpretation of numerical simulations results, in particular regarding the convergence of calculations. Our discussion is done within an analytical collision operator model developed for hydrogen line shapes in near-impact regimes. When properly employed, this model can serve as a reference for testing the convergence of simulations

Accuracy of impact broadening models in low-density magnetized hydrogen plasmas

International audienceThe impact approximation used in the modelling of Stark profiles is examined when a magnetic field is present. Motivated by tokamak plasma spectroscopy, we calculate line shapes and $S$-matrix elements for the first Lyman lines of hydrogen with two models proposed for retaining simultaneously Stark and Zeeman effects in the impact limit. An evaluation of the accuracy of the two approaches is made with the help of a numerical simulation

SAMHD1 is a biomarker for cytarabine response and a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia.

The nucleoside analog cytarabine (Ara-C) is an essential component of primary and salvage chemotherapy regimens for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). After cellular uptake, Ara-C is converted into its therapeutically active triphosphate metabolite, Ara-CTP, which exerts antileukemic effects, primarily by inhibiting DNA synthesis in proliferating cells. Currently, a substantial fraction of patients with AML fail to respond effectively to Ara-C therapy, and reliable biomarkers for predicting the therapeutic response to Ara-C are lacking. SAMHD1 is a deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) triphosphohydrolase that cleaves physiological dNTPs into deoxyribonucleosides and inorganic triphosphate. Although it has been postulated that SAMHD1 sensitizes cancer cells to nucleoside-analog derivatives through the depletion of competing dNTPs, we show here that SAMHD1 reduces Ara-C cytotoxicity in AML cells. Mechanistically, dGTP-activated SAMHD1 hydrolyzes Ara-CTP, which results in a drastic reduction of Ara-CTP in leukemic cells. Loss of SAMHD1 activity-through genetic depletion, mutational inactivation of its triphosphohydrolase activity or proteasomal degradation using specialized, virus-like particles-potentiates the cytotoxicity of Ara-C in AML cells. In mouse models of retroviral AML transplantation, as well as in retrospective analyses of adult patients with AML, the response to Ara-C-containing therapy was inversely correlated with SAMHD1 expression. These results identify SAMHD1 as a potential biomarker for the stratification of patients with AML who might best respond to Ara-C-based therapy and as a target for treating Ara-C-refractory AML

Modeling of Stark–Zeeman Lines in Magnetized Hydrogen Plasmas

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Line shapes in turbulent plasmas

The fluctuations and oscillations observed in turbulent plasmas may affect the line shapes emitted by atoms and ions. We investigate several plasma conditions for which a spectroscopic signature of plasma turbulence can be observed. Starting from the simple model of microturbulence for Doppler profile, we examine how information on turbulent fluctuations is obtained in astrophysics and magnetic fusion plasmas. We recall the potential of a formalism which expresses the measured line shape in function of the probability density function of the fluctuating plasma parameters. New calculations of hydrogen dipole autocorrelation functions and line shapes are presented for plasmas affected by strong Langmuir turbulence and nonlinear wave collapse. We propose a model using a sequence of envelope solitons for the electric field created by the wave packets and felt by the emitters, and show that the line shape may be dominated by the effect of strong Langmuir turbulence

Line shapes in turbulent plasmas

International audienc

Line shapes in turbulent plasmas

The fluctuations and oscillations observed in turbulent plasmas may affect the line shapes emitted by atoms and ions. We investigate several plasma conditions for which a spectroscopic signature of plasma turbulence can be observed. Starting from the simple model of microturbulence for Doppler profile, we examine how information on turbulent fluctuations is obtained in astrophysics and magnetic fusion plasmas. We recall the potential of a formalism which expresses the measured line shape in function of the probability density function of the fluctuating plasma parameters. New calculations of hydrogen dipole autocorrelation functions and line shapes are presented for plasmas affected by strong Langmuir turbulence and nonlinear wave collapse. We propose a model using a sequence of envelope solitons for the electric field created by the wave packets and felt by the emitters, and show that the line shape may be dominated by the effect of strong Langmuir turbulence