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Notes: Laser-based experiments have shown that Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) growth in thin, perturbed copper foils leads to a phase dominated by narrow spikes between thin bubbles. These experiments were well modeled and diagnosed until this " spike" phase, but not into this spike phase. Experiments were designed, modeled, and performed on the OMEGA laser [T. R. Boehly, D. L. Brown, R. S. Craxton et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] to study the late-time spike phase. To simulate the conditions and evolution of late time RT, a copper target was fabricated consisting of a series of thin ridges (spikes in cross section) 150 μm apart on a thin flat copper backing. The target was placed on the side of a scale-1.2 hohlraum with the ridges pointing into the hohlraum, which was heated to 190 eV. Side-on radiography imaged the evolution of the ridges and flat copper backing into the typical RT bubble and spike structure including the " mushroom-like feet" on the tips of the spikes. RAGE computer models [R. M. Baltrusaitis, M. L. Gittings, R. P. Weaver, R. F. Benjamin, and J. M. Budzinski, Phys. Fluids 8, 2471 (1996)] show the formation of the " mushrooms," as well as how the backing material converges to lengthen the spike. The computer predictions of evolving spike and bubble lengths match measurements fairly well for the thicker backing targets but not for the thinner backings. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The Rayleigh–Taylor instability of radiatively driven thin copper foils is studied under pure ablation, as well as with beryllium buffers to provide additional pressure drive, in support of the target design for Inertial Confinement Fusion. Modeling was done with the RAGE adaptive mesh refinement code [R. M. Baltrusaitis, M. L. Gittings, R. P. Weaver, R. F. Benjamin, and J. M. Budzinski, Phys. Fluids 8, 2471 (1996)] of experiments done on the OMEGA [T. R. Boehly, D. L. Brown, R. S. Craxton et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)] laser. The copper foils were typically 11.5 μm thick with 0.45 μm amplitude and 45 μm wavelength cosine surface perturbations. The beryllium layer was 5 μm thick. The drive was a "PS26"-like [J. D. Lindl, Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995)] laser pulse delivering peak 160–185 eV radiation temperatures. Good agreement between experiment and simulation has been obtained out to 4.5 ns. Mechanisms for late time agreement are discussed. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: In an experiment relevant to the fast ignitor fusion concept, a preformed plasma simulating the corona of a fusion target has been probed with laser intensities exceeding 1018 W/cm2. It is seen that the f number of the probe beam is increased as it propagates through the target plasma—a channeling of the power. The transmission and backscatter of the probe beam have been examined, and the analysis suggests anomalous absorption of laser light in shorter scale length plasmas. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A preformed plasma simulating the corona of a fast ignitor target has been probed with 527 nm and 1054 nm lasers exceeding the critical power for ponderomotive electron cavitation. For both colors, the f number of the probe beam is increased as it propagates through the plasma. Transmission of the diffraction-limited beams is higher for the green than for the 1 μm case. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Recent experiments have shown that low density foam layers can significantly mitigate the perturbing effects of beam nonuniformities affecting the acceleration of thin shells. This problem is studied parametrically with two-dimensional LASNEX [G. B. Zimmerman and W. L. Kruer, Comments Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 2, 51 (1975)]. Foam-buffered targets are employed, consisting typically of 250 Å of gold, and 50 μm of 50 mg/cm3 C10H8O4 foam attached to a 10 μm foil. In simulation these were characteristically exposed to 1.2 ns, flat-topped green light pulses at 1.4×1014 W/cm2 intensity, bearing 30 μm lateral perturbations of up to 60% variation in intensity. Without the buffer layers the foils were severely disrupted by 1 ns. With buffering only minimal distortion was manifest at 3 ns. The smoothing is shown to derive principally from the high thermal conductivity of the heated foam. The simulation results imply that (1) the foam thickness should exceed the disturbance wavelength; (2) intensities exceeding 5×1013 W/cm2 are needed for assured stability beyond 2 ns; (3) longer foams at lower densities are needed for effective mitigation with shorter wavelength light; (4) the gold layer hastens conversion of the structured foam to a uniform plasma. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Creation of a low density, high temperature plasma buffer between the absorption and ablation layers of a directly driven inertial confinement fusion implosion capsule has been proposed as a means to reduce "early time" imprint from laser nonuniformities. This thermal smoothing blanket might be created from a low density foam layer wrapped around the deuterium–tritium filled microballoon. Preliminary spherical implosion tests of this concept using a polystyrene foam layer surrounding a glass microballoon were performed at the Nova laser [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 57, 2101 (1986)], using a 527 nm drive wavelength. Comparison of capsule yield and imploded core symmetry showed promising improvements in overall target performance, relative to one-dimensional undegraded hydrodynamic simulations, when the foam-buffer layer was present. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Linear waves in a magnetized cold electron plasma are studied as a means of further understanding the mechanism of field penetration in such devices as plasma opening switches. The one-dimensional wave penetration into a nonuniform plasma, discovered by others in earlier work, has been extended to two dimensions by the linear analysis. An exact solution is presented for waves propagating along a density discontinuity.

Notes: Abstract: There is evidence that dietary lipids and age both influence neuronal membrane composition and receptor G protein-linked signal transduction, but very little information is available on the interaction between these two factors. To investigate this, we obtained striata from 2, 12, and 22-month-old male F344 rats who were fed either a high-cholesterol, high-saturated fat or low-fat diet for 1 month. The striata were assayed for muscarinic agonist-stimulated low-Km GTPase activity using 10−3M carbachol and 10−5M oxotremorine and for KCl-evoked dopamine release enhancement by 10−5M oxotremorine. Membrane cholesterol and phospholipid content and phospholipid class composition were also determined. Mature animals showed significant but divergent changes in GTPase activity and dopamine release for high-cholesterol and low-fat diets: GTPase activity decreased, whereas dopamine release increased in these groups. Alterations in GTPase activity but not in dopamine release were inversely correlated with the cholesterol/phospholipid molar ratio. Old control animals showed reductions in both GTPase activity and oxotremorine-enhanced dopamine release compared with young animals. Whereas none of the experimental diets affected GTPase activity in old animals, the low-fat diet produced a marked decrease in dopamine release. In contrast to mature and old groups, young rats showed no significant change in either GTPase or dopamine release, suggesting a relative “resistance” to such dietary lipid modulation. The observed dissociation in GTPase and dopamine release responses to diet may reflect differing effects of these diets on discrete membrane lipid domains that preferentially influence different signal transduction components. The substantial age-related differences in striatal membrane response to dietary lipid modulation may represent the effects of underlying age differences in membrane lipid metabolism, structure, and/or dynamics. Our findings support the work of other groups that have shown that brain membranes are susceptible to modification by exogenous lipids. They also suggest the need for a more systematic examination of the influence of age on the response to other types of dietary lipid changes.

Notes: Abstract: Neuronal cell death as a result of apoptosis is associated with cerebrovascular stroke and various neurodegenerative disorders. Pharmacological agents that maintain normal intracellular Ca2+ levels and inhibit cellular oxidative stress may be effective in blocking abnormal neuronal apoptosis. In this study, a spontaneous (also referred to as age-induced) model of apoptosis consisting of rat cerebellar granule cells was used to evaluate the antiapoptotic activities of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channel blockers and various antioxidants. The results of these experiments demonstrated that the charged, dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel blocker amlodipine had very potent neuroprotective activity in this system, compared with antioxidants and neutral Ca2+ channel blockers (nifedipine and nimodipine). Within its effective pharmacological range (10-100 nM), amlodipine attenuated intracellular neuronal Ca2+ increases elicited by KCl depolarization but did not affect Ca2+ changes triggered by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation. Amlodipine also inhibited free radical-induced damage to lipid constituents of the membrane in a dose-dependent manner, independent of Ca2+ channel modulation. In parallel experiments, spontaneous neuronal apoptosis was inhibited in dose- and time-dependent manners by antioxidants (U-78439G, α-tocopherol, and melatonin), nitric oxide synthase inhibitors (N-nitro-L-arginine and N-nitro-D-arginine), and a nitric oxide chelator (hemoglobin) in the micromolar range. These results suggest that spontaneous neuronal apoptosis is associated with excessive Ca2+ influx, leading to further intracellular Ca2+ increases and the generation of reactive oxygen species. Agents such as amlodipine that block voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels and inhibit cellular oxidative stress may be effective in the treatment of cerebrovascular stroke and neurodegenerative diseases associated with excessive apoptosis.