Holmium-161 produced using 11.6 MeV protons: A practical source of narrow-band X-rays.

We present a novel technique to produce narrow-band X-rays by preparing (161)Ho from the bombardment of dysprosium foil by 11.6 MeV protons. The activated foil produces predominantly 45-55 keV X-rays, which are suitable for activating iodinated radio-sensitizing agents (e.

A combined atomic force/fluorescence microscopy technique to select aptamers in a single cycle from a small pool of random oligonucleotides.

We develop a method, which utilizes a combined atomic force microscope (AFM)/fluorescence microscope and small copy number polymerase chain reaction (PCR), to affinity-select individual aptamer species in a single cycle from a small pool of random-sequence oligonucleotides (oligos). In this method, a library of small beads, each of which is functionalized with fluorescent oligos of different sequences, is created. This library of oligo-functionalized beads is flowed over immobilized target molecules on a glass cover slip.