251 research outputs found
Search for Photon-Photon Elastic Scattering in the X-ray Region
We report the first results of a search for real photon-photon scattering
using X rays. A novel system is developed to split and collide X-ray pulses by
applying interferometric techniques. A total of pulses (each
containing about photons) from an X-ray Free-Electron Laser are
injected into the system. No scattered events are observed, and an upper limit
of (95% C.L.) is obtained on the
photon-photon elastic scattering cross section at 6.5 keV
Coherent Acoustic Perturbation of Second-Harmonic-Generation in NiO
We investigate the structural and magnetic origins of the unusual ultrafast
second-harmonicgeneration (SHG) response of femtosecond-laser-excited nickel
oxide (NiO) previously attributed to oscillatory reorientation dynamics of the
magnetic structure induced by d-d excitations. Using time-resolved x-ray
diffraction from the (3/2 3/2 3/2) magnetic planes, we show that changes in the
magnitude of the magnetic structure factor following ultrafast optical
excitation are limited to = 1.5% in the first 30 ps. An
extended investigation of the ultrafast SHG response reveals a strong
dependence on wavelength as well as characteristic echoes, both of which give
evidence for an acoustic origin of the dynamics. We therefore propose an
alternative mechanism for the SHG response based on perturbations of the
nonlinear susceptibility via optically induced strain in a spatially confined
medium. In this model, the two observed oscillation periods can be understood
as the times required for an acoustic strain wave to traverse one coherence
length of the SHG process in either the collinear or anti-collinear geometries.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure
Damage threshold investigation using grazing incidence irradiation by hard X-ray free electron laser
T. Koyama, H. Yumoto, K. Tono, T. Sato, T. Togashi, Y. Inubushi, T. Katayama, J. Kim, S. Matsuyama, H. Mimura, M. Yabashi, K. Yamauchi, and H. Ohashi "Damage threshold investigation using grazing incidence irradiation by hard x-ray free electron laser", Proc. SPIE 8848, Advances in X-Ray/EUV Optics and Components VIII, 88480T (27 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2025377
Hyaluronan metabolism in overloaded TMJ
The present study aimed to examine hyaluronan (HA) metabolism in relation to the onset and progression of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) induced by mechanical overloading. Two-month-old and 6-month-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into experimental and untreated control groups (n = 5/group). A sliding plate was attached to the maxillary incisors of the experimental mice for 10 days to overload the condylar cartilage in TMJ. In experimental group, profound cartilage degradation was detected in hematoxylin-eosin, Safranin-O-Fast Green stained sections. It was also shown that the cartilage degradation was greater in older mice in both the control and the experimental groups. The number of HABP positive cells was decreased by mechanical overloading and with age. The reduction of HA expression was correlated with the progression of cartilage degradation induced by mechanical overloading. The absolute quantification of the mRNA expression related to HA synthesis and HA degradation was also performed in each group. The mRNA expression levels of HA synthase (HAS) 2 and 3 were lower in the experimental group compared with the control group in the younger mice. In contrast, the mRNA expression levels of the HA degradation gene, HYAL2 and KIAA1199, were higher in the experimental group compared with the control group in the older mice. Thus, mechanical overload differently affected the balance of HA degradation and HA synthesis in the older and younger mice, respectively. In conclusion, mechanical overloading affects HA metabolism and it might initiate or amplify the condylar cartilage degradation
Single-shot 3D coherent diffractive imaging of core-shell nanoparticles with elemental specificity
We report 3D coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) of Au/Pd core-shell nanoparticles with 6.1 nm spatial resolution with elemental specificity. We measured single-shot diffraction patterns of the nanoparticles using intense x-ray free electron laser pulses. By exploiting the curvature of the Ewald sphere and the symmetry of the nanoparticle, we reconstructed the 3D electron density of 34 core-shell structures from these diffraction patterns. To extract 3D structural information beyond the diffraction signal, we implemented a super-resolution technique by taking advantage of CDI's quantitative reconstruction capabilities. We used high-resolution model fitting to determine the Au core size and the Pd shell thickness to be 65.0 +/- 1.0 nm and 4.0 +/- 0.5 nm, respectively. We also identified the 3D elemental distribution inside the nanoparticles with an accuracy of 3%. To further examine the model fitting procedure, we simulated noisy diffraction patterns from a Au/Pd core-shell model and a solid Au model and confirmed the validity of the method. We anticipate this super-resolution CDI method can be generally used for quantitative 3D imaging of symmetrical nanostructures with elemental specificity.111Ysciescopu
Ultrafast observation of lattice dynamics in laser-irradiated gold foils
We have observed the lattice expansion before the onset of compression in an optical-laser-driven target, using diffraction of femtosecond X-ray beams generated by the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-electron Laser. The change in diffraction angle provides a direct measure of the lattice spacing, allowing the density to be calculated with a precision of Β±1%. From the known equation of state relations, this allows an estimation of the temperature responsible for the expansion as <1000 K. The subsequent ablation-driven compression was observed with a clear rise in density at later times. This demonstrates the feasibility of studying the dynamics of preheating and shock formation with unprecedented detail.N. J. Hartley, N. Ozaki, T. Matsuoka, B. Albertazzi, A. Faenov, Y. Fujimoto, H. Habara, M. Harmand, Y. Inubushi, T. Katayama, M. Koenig, A. Krygier, P. Mabey, Y. Matsumura, S. Matsuyama, E. E. McBride, K. Miyanishi, G. Morard, T. Okuchi, T. Pikuz, O. Sakata, Y. Sano, T. Sato, T. Sekine, Y. Seto, K. Takahashi, K. A. Tanaka, Y. Tange, T. Togashi, Y. Umeda, T. Vinci, M. Yabashi, T. Yabuuchi, K. Yamauchi, and R. Kodama , "Ultrafast observation of lattice dynamics in laser-irradiated gold foils", Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 071905 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4976541
Plasmid-based transient human stromal cell-derived factor-1 gene transfer improves cardiac function in chronic heart failure
We previously demonstrated that transient stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1) improved cardiac function when delivered via cell therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy at a time remote from acute myocardial infarction (MI) rats. We hypothesized that non-viral gene transfer of naked plasmid DNA-expressing hSDF-1 could similarly improve cardiac function. To optimize plasmid delivery, we tested SDF-1 and luciferase plasmids driven by the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter with (pCMVe) or without (pCMV) translational enhancers or Ξ± myosin heavy chain (pMHC) promoter in a rodent model of heart failure. In vivo expression of pCMVe was 10-fold greater than pCMV and pMHC expression and continued over 30 days. We directly injected rat hearts with SDF-1 plasmid 1 month after MI and assessed heart function. At 4 weeks after plasmid injection, we observed a 35.97 and 32.65% decline in fractional shortening (FS) in control (saline) animals and pMHC-hSDF1 animals, respectively, which was sustained to 8 weeks. In contrast, we observed a significant 24.97% increase in animals injected with the pCMVe-hSDF1 vector. Immunohistochemistry of cardiac tissue revealed a significant increase in vessel density in the hSDF-1-treated animals compared with control animals. Increasing SDF-1 expression promoted angiogenesis and improved cardiac function in rats with ischemic heart failure along with evidence of scar remodeling with a trend toward decreased myocardial fibrosis. These data demonstrate that stand-alone non-viral hSDF-1 gene transfer is a strategy for improving cardiac function in ischemic cardiomyopathy
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