Laser-Driven Proton Beams: Acceleration Mechanism, Beam Optimization, and Radiographic Applications

This paper reviews recent experimental activity in the area of optimization, control, and application of laser accelerated proton beams, carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses 100 TW facility in France. In particular, experiments have investigated the role of the scale length at the rear of the plasma in reducing target-normal-sheath-acceleration acceleration efficiency. Results match with recent theoretical predictions and provide information in view of the feasibility of proton fast-ignition applications. Experiments aiming to control the divergence of the proton beams have investigated the use of a laser-triggered microlens, which employs laser-driven transient electric fields in cylindrical geometry, enabling to focus the emitted
protons and select monochromatic beam lets out of the broad spectrum beam. This approach could be advantageous in view
of a variety of applications. The use of laser-driven protons as a particle probe for transient field detection has been developed and
applied to a number of experimental conditions. Recent work in this area has focused on the detection of large-scale self-generated magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas and the investigation of fields associated to the propagation of relativistic electron both on the surface and in the bulk of targets irradiated by high-power laser pulses.

An agent-based control mechanism for WFQ in IP networks

This paper presents a new packet scheduling scheme called agent-based WFQ to control and maintain QoS parameters in virtual private networks (VPNs) within the confines of adaptive networks. Future networks are expected to be open heterogeneous environments consisting of more than one network operator. In this adaptive environment, agents act on behalf of users or third-party operators to obtain the best service for their clients and maintain those services through the modification of the scheduling scheme in routers and switches spanning the VPN. In agent-based WFQ, an agent on the router monitors the accumulated queuing delay for each service. In order to control and to keep the end-to-end delay within the bounds, the weights for services are adjusted dynamically by agents on the routers spanning the VPN. If there is an increase or decrease in queuing delay of a service, an agent on a downstream router informs the upstream routers to adjust the weights of their queues. This keeps the end-to-end delay of services within the specified bounds and offers better QoS compared to VPNs using static WFQ. This paper also describes the algorithm for agent-based WFQ, and presents simulation results. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electrode kinetics and mechanism of iodine reduction in the room-temperature ionic liquid [C(4)mim][NTf2]

The fast electrochemical reduction of iodine in the RTIL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)imide, [C(4)mim][NTf2], is reported and the kinetics and mechanism of the process elucidated. Two reduction peaks were observed. The first reduction peak is assigned to the process

On the complexity of the water-gas shift reaction mechanism over a Pt/CeO2 catalyst: Effect of the temperature on the reactivity of formate surface species studied by operando DRIFT during isotopic transient at chemical steady-state

The present report investigates the role of formate species as potential reaction intermediates for the WGS reaction (CO + H2O -> CO2 + H-2) over a Pt-CeO2 catalyst. A combination of operando techniques, i.e., in situ diffuse reflectance FT-IR (DRIFT) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) during steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA), was used to relate the exchange of the reaction product CO2 to that of surface formate species. The data presented here suggest that a switchover from a non-formate to a formate-based mechanism could take place over a very narrow temperature range (as low as 60 K) over our Pt-CeO2 catalyst. This observation clearly stresses the need to avoid extrapolating conclusions to the case of results obtained under even slightly different experimental conditions. The occurrence of a low-temperature mechanism, possibly redox or Mars van Krevelen-like, that deactivates above 473 K because of ceria over-reduction is suggested as a possible explanation for the switchover, similarly to the case of the CO-NO reaction over Cu, I'd and Rh-CeZrOx (see Kaspar and co-workers [1-3]). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chain growth mechanism in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: A DFT study of C-C coupling over Ru, Fe, Rh, and Re surfaces

A quantitative approach is used to understand the chain growth mechanism in FT synthesis on the Ru, Fe, Rh, and Re surfaces. The C-C coupling reactions are extensively calculated on the stepped metal surfaces. Combining the coupling barriers and reactant stabilities, we investigate the reaction rates of all possible C, + C-1 coupling pathways on the metal surfaces. It is found that (i) all the transition-state structures are similar on these surfaces, while some coupling barriers are very different; (ii) the dominant chain growth pathways on these surfaces are different: C + CH and CH + CH on Rh and Ru surfaces, C + CH3 on Fe surface, and C + CH on Re surface. The common features of the major coupling reactions together with those on the Co surface are also discussed.

General insight into CO oxidation: A density functional theory study of the reaction mechanism on platinum oxides

CO oxidation on PtO2(110) has been studied using density functional theory calculations. Four possible reaction mechanisms were investigated and the most feasible one is the following: (i) the O at the bridge site of PtO2(110) reacts with CO on the coordinatively unsaturated site (CUS) with a negligible barrier; (ii) O-2 adsorbs on the bridge site and then interacts with CO on the CUS to form an OO-CO complex; (iii) the bond of O-OCO breaks to produce CO2 with a small barrier (0.01 eV). The CO oxidation mechanisms on metals and metal oxides are rationalized by a simple model: The O-surface bonding determines the reactivity on surfaces; it also determines whether the atomic or molecular mechanism is preferred. The reactivity on metal oxides is further found to be related to the 3rd ionization energy of the metal atom.

The mechanism of N2O formation via the (NO)(2) dimer: A density functional theory study

Catalytic formation of N2O via a (NO)(2) intermediate was studied employing density functional theory with generalized gradient approximations. Dimer formation was not favored on Pt(111), in agreement with previous reports. On Pt(211) a variety of dimer structures were studied, including trans-(NO)(2) and cis-(NO)(2) configurations. A possible pathway involving (NO)(2) formation at the terrace near to a Pt step is identified as the possible mechanism for low-temperature N2O formation. The dimer is stabilized by bond formation between one O atom of the dimer and two Pt step atoms. The overall mechanism has a low barrier of approximately 0.32 eV. The mechanism is also put into the context of the overall NO+H-2 reaction. A consideration of the step-wise hydrogenation of O-(ads) from the step is also presented. Removal of O-(ads) from the step is significantly different from O-(ads) hydrogenation on Pt(111). The energetically favored structure at the transition state for OH(ads) formation has an activation energy of 0.63 eV. Further hydrogenation of OH(ads) has an activation energy of 0.80 eV. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Mechanism of H-2 metabolism on Fe-only hydrogenases

The metabolism of hydrogen (H-2 2H(+) + 2e(-)) constitutes a central process in the global biological energy cycle. Among all the enzymes that can mediate this process, Fe-only hydrogenases are unique in their particular high reactivity. Recently, some important progresses have been achieved. Following our previous paper [Z.-P. Liu and P. Hu, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124, 5175 (2002)] that characterizes the individual redox state of the active site of Fe-only hydrogenase, in this work we have determined the feasible reaction pathways and energetics for the H-2 metabolism on the active site of Fe-only hydrogenases, using density functional theory. We show that H-2 metabolism possesses very low reaction barriers and a proximal base from a nearby protein plays an important role in H-2 metabolism. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Insight into why the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism is generally preferred

In heterogeneous catalysis, the two main reaction mechanisms which have been proposed are the Langmuir-Hinshelwood and the Eley-Rideal. For the vast majority of surface catalytic reactions, it has been accepted that the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism is preferred. In this study, we investigate catalytic CO oxidation on Pt(111). It is found that reaction barriers for Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanisms actually tend to be higher than those for Eley-Rideal ones. An explanation is presented as to why it is still more probable for the reaction to proceed via the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, despite its higher reaction barrier. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Hydroisomerisation of n-alkanes over partially reduced MoO3: Promotion by CoAlPO-11 and relations to reaction mechanism and rate-determining step

The reaction mechanism and the rate-determining step (RDS) of the isomerisation of n-alkanes (C-4-C-6) over partially reduced MoO3 catalysts were studied through the effects of the addition of an alkene isomerisation catalyst (i.e. CoAlPO- 11). When an acidic CoAlPO- 11 sample was mechanically mixed with the MoO3, a decrease of the induction period and an increase of the steady-state conversion of n-butane to isobutane were observed. These data support previous assumptions that a bifunctional mechanism occurred over the partially reduced MoO3 (a complex nanoscale mixture of oxide-based phases) during n-butane isomerisation and that the RDS was the skeletal isomerisation of the linear butene intermediates. The only promotional effect of CoAlPO-11 on the activity of partially reduced MoO3 for C-5-C-6 alkane hydroisomerisation was a reduction of the induction period, as the RDS at steady-state conditions appeared to be dehydrogenation of the alkane in this case. However, lower yields of branched isomers were observed in this case, the reason of which is yet unclear. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Src and ADAM-17-Mediated Shedding of Transforming Growth Factor-alpha Is a Mechanism of Acute Resistance to TRAIL

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo-2L) has emerged as a promising anticancer agent. However, resistance to TRAIL is likely to be a major problem, and sensitization of cancer cells to TRAIL may therefore be an important anticancer strategy. In this study, we examined the effect of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) gefitinib and a human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2)-TKI (M578440) on the sensitivity of human colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines to recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL). A synergistic interaction between rhTRAIL and gefitinib and rhTRAIL and M578440 was observed in both rhTRAIL-sensitive and resistant CRC cells. This synergy correlated with an increase in EGFR and HER2 activation after rhTRAIL treatment. Furthermore, treatment of CRC cells with rhTRAIL resulted in activation of the Src family kinases (SFK). Importantly, we found that rhTRAIL treatment induced shedding of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) that was dependent on SFK activity and the protease ADAM-17. Moreover, this shedding of TGF-alpha was critical for rhTRAIL-induced activation of EGFR. In support of this, SFK inhibitors and small interfering RNAs targeting ADAM-17 and TGF-alpha also sensitized CRC cells to rhTRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Taken together, our findings indicate that both rhTRAIL-sensitive and resistant CRC cells respond to rhTRAIL treatment by activating an EGFR/HER2-mediated survival response and that these cells can be sensitized to rhTRAIL using EGFR/HER2-targeted therapies. Furthermore, this acute response to rhTRAIL is regulated by SFK-mediated and ADAM-17-mediated shedding of TGF-alpha, such that targeting SFKs or inhibiting ADAM-17, in combination with rhTRAIL, may enhance the response of CRC tumors to rhTRAIL. [Cancer Res 2008;68(20):8312-21]

Overexpression of the rhamnose catabolism regulatory protein, RhaR: a novel mechanism for metronidazole resistance in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Objectives: The aim of the investigation was to use in vitro transposon mutagenesis to generate metronidazole resistance in the obligately anaerobic pathogenic bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and to identify the genes involved to enable investigation of potential mechanisms for the generation of metronidazole resistance.
Methods: The genes affected by the transposon insertion were identified by plasmid rescue and sequencing. Expression levels of the relevant genes were determined by semi-quantitative RNA hybridization and catabolic activity by lactate dehydrogenase/pyruvate oxidoreductase assays.
Results: A metronidazole-resistant mutant was isolated and the transposon insertion site was identified in an intergenic region between the rhaO and rhaR genes of the gene cluster involved in the uptake and catabolism of rhamnose. Metronidazole resistance was observed during growth in defined medium containing either rhamnose or glucose. The metronidazole-resistant mutant showed improved growth in the presence of rhamnose as compared with the wild-type parent. There was increased transcription of all genes of the rhamnose gene cluster in the presence of rhamnose and glucose, likely due to the transposon providing an additional promoter for the rhaR gene, encoding the positive transcriptional regulator of the rhamnose operon. The B. thetaiotaomicron metronidazole resistance phenotype was recreated by overexpressing the rhaR gene in the B. thetaiotaomicron wild-type parent. Both the metronidazole-resistant transposon mutant and RhaR overexpression strains displayed a phenotype of higher lactate dehydrogenase and lower pyruvate oxidoreductase activity in comparison with the parent strain during growth in rhamnose.
Conclusions: These data indicate that overexpression of the rhaR gene generates metronidazole resistance in B. thetaiotaomicron