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The reduced graphene oxide supported Zn-doped Bi2MoO6 nanocomposites (ZnxBi2-xMoO6/RGO) are synthesized by an easy one-step solvothermal method for the rapid degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Characterization analyses show that Bi2MoO6 nanosheets are uniformly supported on RGO, for which the agglomeration of Bi2MoO6 is effectively inhibited, leading to more exposure of surface active sites. The degradation rate of Zn0.1Bi1.9MoO6/RGO5 on CIP reached 90% after 120 min of visible light irradiation, which was 10.4 times the rate of unsupported Bi2MoO6. Zn doping and RGO loading synergistically reduce the recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and result in the enhanced photocatalytic performance. Compared with previously reported catalysts, Zn0.1Bi1.9MoO6/RGO5 can get higher degradation efficiency with shorter time and less dosage. In addition, after five cycles, the degradation efficiency is maintained at about 85%, showing perfect cycling stability of Zn0.1Bi1.9MoO6/RGO5. Photocatalytic mechanism suggests that the photogenerated •O2− and h+ are main species for degrading CIP based on ZnxBi2-xMoO6/RGO complex.

The new hohlraum experimental platform and the quasi-3D simulation model are developed to enable the study of the indirect drive experiment using the six-cylinder-port hohlraum for the first time. It is also the first implosion experiment for the six laser-entrance-hole hohlraum to effectively use all the laser beams of the laser facility that is primarily designed for the cylindrical hohlraum. The experiments performed at the 100 kJ Laser Facility produce a peak hohlraum radiation temperature of ∼222 eV for ∼80 kJ and 2 ns square laser pulse. The inferred x-ray conversion efficiency η∼87% is similar to the cylindrical hohlraum and higher than the octahedral spherical hohlraum at the same laser facility, while the low laser backscatter is similar to the outer cone of the cylindrical hohlraum. The hohlraum radiation temperature and M-band (1.6 keV) flux can be well reproduced by the quasi-3D simulation. The variations of the yield-over-clean and the hot spot shape can also be semiquantitatively explained by the calculated major radiation asymmetry of the quasi-3D simulation. Our work demonstrates the capability for the study of the indirect drive with the six-cylinder-port hohlraum at the cylindrically configured laser facility, which is essential for numerically assessing the laser energy required by the ignition-scale six-cylinder-port hohlraum.

A ternary visible light-driven catalyst, reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-based Bi2MoO6 (BMO), modified with CdS, was synthesized for the degradation of ciprofloxacin through solvothermal method. Neither toxic reductant nor toxic solvent was used. The structural characterization shows that graphene oxide sheets were reduced, while BMO nanoplates and CdS nanoparticles grew to form CdS–BMO/RGO simultaneously. The modification of BMO with CdS and RGO extraordinarily enhances the photocatalytic performance of BMO on the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) under visible light irradiation. The photodegradation rate of CIP over CdS–BMO/RGO photocatalyst is approximately 24 times faster than that of BMO. The improvement of the photocatalytic performance is attributed to the synergistic effect among CdS, BMO and graphene. Moreover, CdS–BMO/RGO exhibits better performance on the degradation of CIP than most bismuth oxide-containing catalysts recently reported. Degradation of various organic contaminants in addition to CIP has also been studied, showing that CdS–BMO/RGO exhibits much higher photocatalytic performance on degrading molecules containing smaller conjugated system.

In inertial confinement approaches to fusion, the asymmetry of target implosion is a major obstacle to achieving high gain in the laboratory. A recently proposed octahedral spherical hohlraum makes it possible to naturally create spherical target irradiation without supplementary symmetry control. Before any decision is made to pursue an ignition-scale laser system based on the octahedral hohlraum, one needs to test the concept with the existing facilities. Here, we report a proof-of-concept experiment for the novel octahedral hohlraum geometry on the cylindrically configured SGIII laser facility without a symmetry control. All polar and equatorial self-emission images of the compressed target show a near round shape of convergence ratio 15 under both square and shaped laser pulses. The observed implosion performances agree well with the ideal spherical implosion simulation. It also shows limitations with using the existing facilities and adds further weight to the need to move to a spherical port geometry for future ignition laser facilities.

The reduced graphene oxide supported Zn-doped Bi

A heterojunction of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH)-Bi

Deuterium–tritium neutron yield has reached up to about 1013 at the 100 kJ-level laser facility, which makes measurement of neutron emission images possible with the neutron imaging system. There are two methods to collect neutron images from the scintillator array, optical fiber taper and the lens system. Here, we report a design of the lens system for the neutron imaging system at the 100 kJ-level laser facility. The lens system, which consists of a nine-element collecting lens, with a spatial resolution of 20 µm and a light-collection efficiency of 5.9% has been designed.

A heterojunction of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH)-Bi2MoO6 (BMO) loaded on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets was synthesized via an eco-friendly solvothermal reaction. The structural characterization shows that NiFe LDH-BMO heterojunctions are well-distributed on the surface of silk-like transparent RGO sheets. The modification of BMO by NiFe LDH and RGO greatly enhances the photocatalytic performance of BMO for degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light. The photocatalyst prepared with 3 wt% RGO shows the highest activity and cycle stability. TC can be completely removed in 80 min, which is about 8.7 times that pure BMO, and showing excellent reusability even after five cycles. The excellent enhancement of photocatalytic performance of NiFe LDH-BMO/RGO composite is attributed to the unique sheet-on-sheet hierarchical heterostructure combined with RGO sheets, facilitating the visible light absorption and photogenerated charge carriers separation.

A high-neutron yield platform imploded by a thin shell target is generally built to probe nuclear science problems, and it has the advantages of high neutron yield, ultrashort fusion time, micro fusion zone, isotropic and monoenergetic neutron. Some analytical models have been proposed to interpret exploding-pusher target implosion driven by a long wavelength laser, whereas they are imperfect for a 0.35 μm laser implosion experiment. When using the 0.35 μm laser, the shell is ablated and accelerated to high implosion velocity governed by Newton’s law, ablation acceleration and quasi-adiabatic compression models are suitable to explain the implosion of a laser direct-drive thin shell target. The new analytical model scales bang time, ion temperature and neutron yield for large variations in laser power, target radius, shell thickness, and fuel pressure. The predicted results of the analytical model are in agreement with experimental data on the Shenguang-III prototype laser facility, 100 kJ laser facility, Omega, and NIF, it demonstrates that the analytical model benefits the understanding of experiment performance and optimizing the target design of high neutron yield implosion.

The time-of-flight enhanced diagnostics (TOFED) neutron spectrometer has been installed in TOFED house, which is a newly-built neutron diagnostic lab outside the EAST experimental hall. The line of sight (LOS) of TOFED is defined by the collimator going through the 150 cm biological shielding wall, which can reduce background neutrons very effectively for the neutron spectral measurements. The Monte Carlo code MCNP5 is used in the simulations to characterize collimation effects and the radiation safety of the new house. The collimator makes neutron flux almost fully perpendicular to S1 detectors. In addition, the proportion of scattered neutrons in the LOS of the TOFED is obtained for the measured spectral data interpretation. The simulation results show that the TOFED house satisfies the requirement for the TOFED operations at EAST and gives a safe environment for personnel access during the EAST operation.

The neutron field measurement was performed in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) experimental hall using a Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS) based on a 3 He thermal neutron counter. The measured spectra and the corresponding integrated neutron fluence and dose values deduced from the spectra at two exposed positions were compared to the calculated results obtained by a general Monte Carlo code MCNP5, and good agreements were found. The applicability of a homemade dose survey meter installed at EAST was also verified with the comparison of the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) values measured by the meter and BSS.

Understanding and controlling time-dependent implosion asymmetry are essential requirements to achieve ignition. In a recent symmetry tuning experiment at the 100 kJ laser facility, an effective time-dependent symmetry control was demonstrated by modifying the ratio of the inner beam power to the outer beam power. The hohlraum radiation and the P2 drive asymmetry of a shot used to measure backlit shell asymmetry have been analyzed, and the sensitivity of the P2 shell asymmetry to the drive asymmetry has been illustrated by using the two-dimensional code LARED. The variation in the shell P2 distortion, resulting from the variation in the P2 drive asymmetry due to the three-dimensional perturbing effects introduced to the hohlraum by the diagnostic windows (DWs) and the eight removed beams, has been assessed quantitatively using a three-dimensional postprocessor. It is found that the DWs and the four removed inner beams do not vary the P2 drive asymmetry, while the four removed outer beams cause a ∼−1% variation in the P2 drive asymmetry, resulting in a more prolate implosion.

To achieve ignition with high gain in inertial confinement fusion, precise symmetry control is one of the key issues to guarantee the PdV work converting into the inner energy efficiently and maximize the pressure of the hot spot. The shaped pulse is used to maintain a low adiabat of the shell. A longer pulse and more compressible shell require more rigorous symmetry control, especially the driven symmetry during the picket pulse and main pulse. A surrogate capsule with high Z materials is usually used for the early-time symmetry tuning. The passive diagnosis of the re-emission spheres gives the time-resolved measurement of the first 2 ns, and the precision is mainly affected by the weak signals due to the low radiation temperature of the hohlraum. To compare with the re-emission technique with high Z surrogate capsule, we demonstrated the early-time symmetry tuning for picket pulse by using thin-shell capsule radiography technique. Combined with 1D hydrodynamics simulation and backlit imaging simulation, the driven asymmetry was quantified. A view factor assessment was also carried out by IRAD3D and coincided with the experimental consequences.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) modified bismuth titanate (Bi2Ti2O7) heterojunction was supported on reduced graphene oxide ( RGO ) to obtain Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2/RGO composite by simple solvothermal method. Neither toxic reductant nor toxic solvent was used. The structural characterization shows that spherical Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2 nanoparticles are loaded on silk-like transparent RGO. By contrast with each individual component, the prepared Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2/RGO composite shows significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance on the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) under simulated sunlight. The degradation efficiency of CIP using Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2/RGO composite as the catalyst reaches 95% in 180 min and maintains at 88% after 5 photocatalytic reaction cycles. The enhancement of photocatalytic performance of Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2/RGO5 composite is due to the synergistic effect among Bi2Ti2O7, TiO2 and RGO. Moreover, compared with other recently reported bismuth-based catalysts, Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2/RGO exhibits higher photocatalytic activity, or shows comparable activity but with less dosage used. Free radical scavenger experiments were also carried out to explore the photocatalytic degradation mechanism.

A general-purpose digital data acquisition system (GDDAQ) has been developed at Peking University. This GDDAQ, composed of 16-channel Digital Pulse Processor Pixie-16 modules from XIA LLC, is a versatile, flexible, and easily expandable data acquisition system for nuclear physics research in China. The software used by this GDDAQ is based on the CERN ROOT framework and developed and tested in CentOS 7 LINUX operating platform. A flexible trigger system has also been developed to accommodate different experimental settings. A user-friendly software GUI helps users monitor and debug the detection system in real timer or offline. Many offline analysis tools have been developed to help users quickly optimize parameters for various types of detectors without the need for time-consuming tests and measurements. This GDDAQ has been successfully implemented in several nuclear physics experiments and its versatility and high efficiency have been demonstrated.

With the charged-particle decay spectroscopy extended to the proton drip-line region, half-lives of nuclei of interest decrease rapidly. Consequently, severe signal piling-up resulting from the implanted ions and their successive decays in position sensitive detectors become more and more common. To extract the spectroscopic information from the pile-up pulses with good accuracy, a digital pulse analysis algorithm is presented in this paper and validated with the α decay of 219Th and the internal conversion electron decays of 210 , 211 Ra isomers, all of which have ∼ μ s half-lives. The results show that with proper baseline correction, standard pulse construction and plateau-region fitting etc., the spectroscopic information of overlapping signals with time separation down to 80 ns and amplitude of individual pile-up pulse down to 70 keV, can be readily extracted.

Implosion asymmetry is a crucial problem quenching ignition in the field of inertial confinement fusion. A forward-calculation method based on 1D and 2D hydrodynamic simulations has been developed to generate and to study the x-ray images of hot-spot self-emission, indicating asymmetry integrated over the entire drive pulse. It is shown that the x-ray imaging photon energy should be higher to avoid the influence of remaining shell. The contour level (percentage of the maximum emission intensity) and spatial resolution should be as low as possible, optimally less than 20% and 3 microns, for characterization of higher-mode signatures such as P8 to P12 by x-ray self-emission images. On the contrary, signatures of lower-mode such as P2 remain clear at all contour levels and spatial resolutions. These key results can help determine the optimal diagnostics, laser and target parameters for implosion experiments. Recent typical hot-spot asymmetry measurements and applications on Shenguang 100kJ-class laser facility are also reported.

The two-laser entrance hole (LEHs) spherical hohlraum energetic experiments with all 48 laser beams and two laser pulse shapes at the 100 kJ level laser facility were investigated. In this work, the time-resolved radiation temperature measured by multi-angle x-ray diodes agreed well with LARED simulations, and the peak radiation temperature was up to 260 eV with the laser power of 45 TW. Meanwhile, the backscattered laser energy fraction was less than 5% in the majority of shots, which proposed a low level of laser–plasma interaction (LPI) effect in the spherical hohlraum. However, in the shaped pulse shots with capsules, the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of smaller incident angle lasers was significantly increased to 15%. The measured SRS spectrum and LARED simulations showed that the increase in the LPI effects caused by the ablated CH plasma was around 0.1Nc (Nc is the critical density). In summary, according to the experimental results, the x-ray conversion efficiency of the vacuum spherical hohlraum was 85%–88% in 3 ns square pulses and 89%–93% in 3.6 ns shaped pulses. It was closer to that of the two-LEH cylindrical hohlraum at the Shen-Guang and NIF facilities.

Neutron Imaging System (NIS) has been used to image the burn volume and cold fuel volume of imploding fusion capsules. In this work, we present a design of neutron imaging aperture for inertial confinement fusion in Laser Fusion Research Center. Since the total neutron yield should be less than 1014, the penumbral aperture has been chosen. A geometric model has been developed to assess the performance of the neutron imaging system, including the spatial resolution, the field of view and the signal-to-noise ratio. This model reproduces the performances of neutron image systems on OMEGA. The spatial resolution of designed NIS is about 22 μm for a field of view of 250 μm. The signal-to-noise ratio can be better than 10, if the neutron yield is higher than 1013.

The accuracy of the determination of the burn-averaged ion temperature of inertial confinement fusion implosions depends on the unfold process, including deconvolution and convolution methods, and the function, i.e., the detector response, used to fit the signals measured by neutron time-of-flight (nToF) detectors. The function given by Murphy et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68(1), 610-613 (1997)] has been widely used in Nova, Omega, and NIF. There are two components, i.e., fast and slow, and the contribution of scattered neutrons has not been dedicatedly considered. In this work, a new function, based on Murphy's function has been employed to unfold nToF signals. The contribution of scattered neutrons is easily included by the convolution of a Gaussian response function and an exponential decay. The ion temperature is measured by nToF with the new function. Good agreement with the ion temperature determined by the deconvolution method has been achieved.

A single crystal chemical vapor deposition (scCVD) diamond detector has been characterized and employed for the neutron measurement at the HL-2A tokamak device. The scCVD diamond detector has been deposited with 5 μm of lithium fluoride (LiF) layer to enhance the sensitivity to thermal neutrons. Time stability of the detector has been studied with α-source and good performance has been found for more than 12 h. Neutron irradiations have been performed in four quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields in the energy range from 2.50 MeV to 16.03 MeV. The measured response function of the scCVD diamond detector to 14.13 MeV neutrons shows a narrow 12 C (n, α) 9 Be reaction peak which is well isolated from other structures by about 1 MeV in energy, indicating the great potential as a fast neutron spectrometer. Neutron measurement of deuterium plasma discharge was established at the HL-2A tokamak device, and good consistence has been revealed among this detector signal and other related signals.

A coaxial, high performance diamond detector has been developed for neutron diagnostics of inertial confinement fusion at ShenGuangIII laser facility. A Φ10 mm × 1 mm "optical grade" chemical-vapor deposition diamond wafer is assembled in coaxial-designing housing, and the signal is linked to a SubMiniature A connector by the cathode cone. The coaxial diamond detector performs excellently for neutron measurement with the full width at half maximum of response time to be 444 ps for a 50 Ω measurement system. The average sensitivity is 0.677 μV ns/n for 14 MeV (DT fusion) neutrons at an electric field of 1000 V/mm, and the linear dynamic range is beyond three orders of magnitude. The ion temperature results fluctuate widely from the neutron time-of-flight scintillator detector results because of the short flight length. These characteristics of small size, large linear dynamic range, and insensitive to x-ray make the diamond detector suitable to measure the neutron yield, ion temperature, and neutron emission time.

Areal density (ρR) is one of the crucial parameters in the inertial confinement fusion. Measurement of the fusion products is a more feasible method to diagnose ρR than other methods, such as X-ray. In the capsules filled with D 2 fuel or D- 3 He fuel, proton is an ideal probe to diagnose the implosion ρR in different emission times and directions by measurements of the proton yields and spectra. By D-D reaction protons and D- 3 He reaction protons, the diagnostics of the total and fuel ρR, ρR evolution, implosion asymmetry and mix effect have been demonstrated at OMEGA and NIF facilities. Also some advanced proton diagnostics instruments are developed with a high level capability. Preliminary diagnosis of ρR in the deuterium involved fuel capsules by measurement of protons at SG-III facility was implemented. A fusion product emission and transport code by Monte-Carlo method was developed. The primary and secondary protons emission and transport in the fuel and shell plasmas were able to be simulated. The relations of the proton energy loss and the secondary proton yields with the areal density were inspected. Several proton spectrometers have been built up at SG-III facility, such as a step ranged filter (SRF) proton spectrometer and a wedged range filter (WRF) proton spectrometer. Some proton response simulation codes and the codes for proton spectra reconstruction were also developed. The demonstrations of ρR diagnostics at SG-III facility by D-D reaction and D- 3 He reaction proton spectra measurements are presented.

We investigate a new laser-driven spherically convergent plasma fusion scheme (SCPF) that can produce thermonuclear neutrons stably and efficiently. In the SCPF scheme, laser beams of nanosecond pulse duration and 10^{14}-10^{15} W/cm^{2} intensity uniformly irradiate the fuel layer lined inside a spherical hohlraum. The fuel layer is ablated and heated to expand inwards. Eventually, the hot fuel plasmas converge, collide, merge, and stagnate at the central region, converting most of their kinetic energy to internal energy, forming a thermonuclear fusion fireball. With the assumptions of steady ablation and adiabatic expansion, we theoretically predict the neutron yield Y_{n} to be related to the laser energy E_{L}, the hohlraum radius R_{h}, and the pulse duration τ through a scaling law of Y_{n}∝(E_{L}/R_{h}^{1.2}τ^{0.2})^{2.5}. We have done experiments at the ShengGuangIII-prototype facility to demonstrate the principle of the SCPF scheme. Some important implications are discussed.

The first implosion tuning experiment with a shaped pulse driven was performed on the SGIII laser facility by using 2D X-ray radiography. Under the careful design, we obtained the driven symmetry both in the picket and peak. The experimental results show that the P2/P0 asymmetry can be tuned by varying the fraction energy in the inner cone both in the picket and peak. The radiation symmetry at the peak is consistent with our simulation. However, the radiation symmetry in first 0.5 ns (picket) had an unexpected negative P2/P0, which is different from the simulation; it may be caused by inner cone absorption in the tent which supported the capsule.

Diagnosing the layered cryogenic DT implosions with traditional absorption based x-ray backlight radiography in inertial confinement fusion is a challenge because of the low opacity of the cold fuel. Refraction enhanced x-ray phase-contrast imaging was proposed for diagnosing optically opaque material. In this paper, A Monte Carlo tool based on Geant4 is employed to model the x-ray phase-contrast imaging for diagnosing cold fuel layer in cryogenic implosions. This model can successfully explain the x-ray phase-contrast imaging experimental results on a micro focus x-ray tube with triple-layer ablator capsules. Furthermore, the radiographs of ignition-scale capsule target is calculated. The fuel layer of DT ice can be observed with the phase contrast imaging and the image is faded using absorption imaging only. Our simulations show that the shape of cold fuel and implosion velocity can be inferred directly with the phase contrast imaging in inertial confinement fusion(ICF).

Two neutron time-of-flight (nToF) detectors have been employed to measure the neutron time-of-flight spectrum in different lines-of-sight, i.e., at the equator plane and the south pole, on Shenguang-III (SG-III) laser facility. The contribution of scattered neutrons has been calculated with the Monte Carlo code JMCT for each nToF detector. The results show that the scattered neutron spectrum is dominated by neutrons scattered on materials in the experiment hall, including the vacuum chamber. The shape of the scattered neutron spectrum depends on the view line, which has been observed with nToF detectors located in the experiment hall of the SG-III laser facility. A method based on the convolution of the calculated neutron time-of-flight spectrum and the instrument response function has been developed for the ion temperature determination. The calculated neutron spectra with the contribution of scattered neutrons can fit the measured results. No obvious ion temperature anisotropy has been observed on the SG-III laser facility at present.Two neutron time-of-flight (nToF) detectors have been employed to measure the neutron time-of-flight spectrum in different lines-of-sight, i.e., at the equator plane and the south pole, on Shenguang-III (SG-III) laser facility. The contribution of scattered neutrons has been calculated with the Monte Carlo code JMCT for each nToF detector. The results show that the scattered neutron spectrum is dominated by neutrons scattered on materials in the experiment hall, including the vacuum chamber. The shape of the scattered neutron spectrum depends on the view line, which has been observed with nToF detectors located in the experiment hall of the SG-III laser facility. A method based on the convolution of the calculated neutron time-of-flight spectrum and the instrument response function has been developed for the ion temperature determination. The calculated neutron spectra with the contribution of scattered neutrons can fit the measured results. No obvious ion temperature anisotropy has been observed on the S...

The ability of human serum albumin (HSA) to bind fatty acids (FA) in multiple sites has been revealed by many studies. Here we detect and characterize nine individual binding sites by two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of 18-[(13)C]-oleic acid (OA) complexed with HSA. We characterize site-specific FA binding by addition of (i) different FA molar ratios (from 1:1 to 4:1 OA:HSA) to observe the order of filling and occupancy of binding sites; (ii) methyl-β-cyclodextrin, as a FA acceptor, to observe the dissociation of FA; and (iii) drugs (with known binding sites in the crystal structure) to reveal the correspondence of three NMR peaks with sites in the crystal structure. At 1:1 and 2:1 OA:HSA ratios, three sites were shown to fill sequentially. These high-affinity sites were well resolved from additional sites (one medium-affinity and five low-affinity) observed at 3:1 and 4:1 OA:HSA ratios. Methyl-β-cyclodextrin extracted OA from individual sites in the reverse order of filling. FA bound in three low-affinity sites were displaced by drugs shown to bind in crystalline HSA to FA sites 7 and 3 (Sudlow's drug sites I and II, respectively) and FA site 6. With this strategy, 2D NMR spectral analysis permits site-specific characterization of the binding of drugs and FA and provides a sensitive probe of the mutual effects of FA and ligand binding.

The basic principles for designing a camera system for neutron imaging in low fusion power tokamaks are illustrated for the case of the HL-2A tokamak device. HL-2A has an approximately circular cross section, with total neutron yields of about 1012 n/s under 1 MW neutral beam injection (NBI) heating. The accuracy in determining the width of the neutron emission profile and the plasma vertical position are chosen as relevant parameters for design optimization. Typical neutron emission profiles and neutron energy spectra are calculated by Monte Carlo method. A reference design is assumed, for which the direct and scattered neutron fluences are assessed and the neutron count profile of the neutron camera is obtained. Three other designs are presented for comparison. The reference design is found to have the best performance for assessing the width of peaked to broadened neutron emission profiles. It also performs well for the assessment of the vertical position.

A digital delay-line-shaping method for neutron/γ-ray pulse shape discrimination in a stilbene detector is developed and applied to the neutron measurements on HL-2A tokamak. The performance of the digital method is validated by measurements on an Am–Be neutron source. The method performs well over a wide energy range, the energy threshold can be as low as 500 keV for neutrons and 180 keV for γ-rays. The digital stilbene neutron detector was also used for measurements on the accelerator neutron sources.

The capability of off-axis neutral beam heating and current drive has been investigated with NUBEAM for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Three different approaches to realize off-axis Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) have been studied. Simulation results for on- and off-axis NBI are reported. The effects of the alignment of NBI relative to the magnetic field pitch on off-axis neutral beam heating and current drive are observed and discussed qualitatively. By comparing the numerical results, a most favorable off-axis NBI configuration is recommended. The capability to control sawtooth is also investigated by comparing locations of the q = 1 rational surface and the peak of the fast ion density profile. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Achieving ignition via inertial confinement approach is of strong application value and important science significance. It is also a project of large scale that depends on the national strength. Involving theory, target fabrication, diagnostics, and laser facilities, integrated implosion experiment plays an important role in the research of ICF. Since the first successful neutron production with directly driven implosion in the 80’s, the quasi one-dimensional implosion performance dominated by shock compression was demonstrated in the period of 1990–2010, and the quasi one-dimensional implosion performance dominated by inertial compression was achieved in recent years. All of these facts definitely show the progress on improving the performance of integrated implosion. With the completion of SG-III laser facility, and in the situation of facing frustration in the US ignition program, there is grand opportunity and challenge when we are exploring toward the ignition parameter space with higher convergence ratio and lower adiabat.

The cylindrical vacuum hohlraum energy at the SGIII laser facility [X. T. He and W. Y. Zhang, Eur. Phys. J. D 44, 227 (2007) and W. Zheng et al., High Power Laser Sci. Eng. 4, e21 (2016)] is investigated for the first time. The hohlraum size and the laser energy are intermediate between the Nova and NIF typical hohlraum experiments. It is found that the SGIII hohlraum exhibits an x-ray conversion efficiency of about 85%, which is more close to that of the NIF hohlraum. The LARED simulations of the SGIII hohlraum underestimate about 15% of the radiation flux measured from the laser entrance hole, while the capsule radiation drive inferred from the x-ray bangtime is roughly consistent with the experiments. The underestimation of the SGIII hohlraum radiation flux is mainly caused by the more enclosed laser entrance hole in the LARED simulation. The comparison between the SGIII and NIF hohlraum simulations by LARED indicates that the LARED generally underestimates the measured radiation flux by 15% for the hi...

We present in this paper 2H,13C MAS correlation experiments that are performed on a uniformly 2H,13C,15N labeled sample of Nac-Val, and on the uniformly 2H,15N labeled dipeptide Nac-Val-Leu-OH. The experiments involve the measurement of 2H T1 relaxation times at two different magnetic fields, as well as the measurement of the 2H tensor parameters by evolution of the 2H chemical shift. The data are interpreted quantitatively to differentiate between different side chain motional models.

Neutron detection efficiency for a long wedge-shaped plastic scintillation detector was measured by using the Am/Be neutron source. The overall efficiency attains 23% at around 2 MeV and decreases to 15% at about 5 MeV. The experimental results are in agreement with the Monte Carlo simulation calculations.

Background Although increased volume of pericardial fat has been associated with decreased cardiac function, it is unclear whether this association is mediated by systemic overall obesity or direct regional fat interactions. We hypothesized that if local effects dominate, left ventricular (LV) function would be most strongly associated with pericardial fat that surrounds the left rather than the right ventricle (RV). Methods Female obese subjects (n = 60) had cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) scans to obtain measures of LV function and pericardial fat volumes. LV function was obtained using the cine steady state free precession imaging in short axis orientation. The amount of pericardial fat was determined volumetrically by the cardiac gated T1 black blood imaging and normalized to body surface area. Results In this study cohort, LV fat correlated with several LV hemodynamic measurements including cardiac output (r = -0.41, p = 0.001) and stroke volume (r = -0.26, p = 0.05), as well as diastolic functional parameters including peak-early-filling rate (r = -0.38, p = 0.01), early late filling ratio (r = -0.34, p = 0.03), and time to peak-early-filling (r = 0.34, p = 0.03). These correlations remained significant even after adjusting for the body mass index and the blood pressure. However, similar correlations became weakened or even disappeared between RV fat and LV function. LV function was not correlated with systemic plasma factors, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), resistin and adiponectin (all p > 0.05). Conclusions LV hemodynamic and diastolic function was associated more with LV fat as compared to RV or total pericardial fat, but not with systemic inflammatory markers or adipokines. The correlations between LV function and pericardial fat remained significant even after adjusting for systemic factors. These findings suggest a site-specific influence of pericardial fat on LV function, which could imply local secretion of molecules into the underlying tissue or an anatomic effect, both mechanisms meriting future evaluation.

The new neutron spectrometer time-of-flight enhanced diagnostics (TOFED) for the EAST tokamak is presented and its characteristics are described in terms of simulation results, as well as the interface in the torus hall along with new neutral beam (NB) injectors. The use of TOFED for studies of the slowing down of NB-injected deuterons is illustrated. The implications of measuring the neutron emission on a long pulse machine are discussed together with the experimental challenges and diagnostic possibilities approaching those to be encountered in continuous operation.

A neutron detector based on EJ301 liquid scintillator has been employed at EAST to measure the neutron energy spectrum for D-D fusion plasma. The detector was carefully characterized in different quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields generated by a 4.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. In recent experimental campaigns, due to the low neutron yield at EAST, a new shielding device was designed and located as close as possible to the tokamak to enhance the count rate of the spectrometer. The fluence of neutrons and gamma-rays was measured with the liquid neutron spectrometer and was consistent with 3He proportional counter and NaI (Tl) gamma-ray spectrometer measurements. Plasma ion temperature values were deduced from the neutron spectrum in discharges with lower hybrid wave injection and ion cyclotron resonance heating. Scattered neutron spectra were simulated by the Monte Carlo transport Code, and they were well verified by the pulse height measurements at low energies., Comment: 19 pages,10 figures, 1 table