Optimized terahertz generation in BNA organic crystals with chirped Ti:sapphire laser pulses.

We report on the efficient generation of intense terahertz radiation from the organic crystal N-benzyl-2-methyl-4-nitroaniline pumped by chirped Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser pulses. The THz energy and spectrum as a function of the pump fluence and duration of the chirped laser pulses are studied systematically. For the appropriate positively chirped pump pulses, a significant boost in the THz generation efficiency by a factor of around 2.

Femtosecond Dynamics of Fast Electron Pulses in Relativistic Laser-Foil Interactions.

We report the femtosecond time-resolved dynamics of relativistic electron pulses in ultraintense laser-foil interactions, by characterizing the terahertz self-radiation with single-shot ultrabroadband interferometry. Experimental measurements together with theoretical modeling reveal that the electron pulses inherit the duration of the driving laser pulse. We also visualize the electron recirculation dynamics, where electrons remain trapped inside the self-generated electrostatic potential well and rebound back and forth around the thin foil for hundreds of femtoseconds.

A non-collinear autocorrelator for single-shot characterization of ultrabroadband terahertz pulses.

Conventional terahertz (THz) waveform or spectral diagnostics mainly employ the electro-optic-based techniques or the multi-shot Michelson interferometer. Simultaneously, single-shot, ultrabroadband THz spectral measurements remain challenging. In this paper, a novel probe-free scheme based on the non-collinear autocorrelation technique is proposed to characterize the ultrabroadband THz spectrum at a single-shot mode.

Two-dimensional monitoring of a laser-solid x-ray source spot via penumbral coded aperture imaging technique.

The uncertainties of spot size and position need to be clarified for x-ray sources as they can affect the detecting precision of the x-ray probe beam in applications such as radiography. In particular, for laser-driven x-ray sources, they would be more significant as they influence the inevitable fluctuation of the driving laser pulses. Here, we have employed the penumberal coded aperture imaging technique to diagnose the two-dimensional spatial distribution of an x-ray emission source spot generated from a Cu solid target irradiated by an intense laser pulse.

Chloroquine enhances catalpol's ability to promote apoptosis by inhibiting catalpol's autophagy-promoting effect on gastric cancer.

Purpose: Gastric cancer, which is derived from gastric mucosal epithelial cells, is a representative solid tumour, and more than 1 million cases are diagnosed worldwide each year. However, treatment methods and therapeutics for gastric cancer are limited, and further research is needed to develop novel strategies.

Methods: In this experiment, we studied the effect of catalpol from the extract of Dihuang from traditional Chinese medicine on gastric cancer cells.

Widespread transcript shortening through alternative polyadenylation in secretory cell differentiation.

Most eukaryotic genes produce alternative polyadenylation (APA) isoforms. Here we report that, unlike previously characterized cell lineages, differentiation of syncytiotrophoblast (SCT), a cell type critical for hormone production and secretion during pregnancy, elicits widespread transcript shortening through APA in 3'UTRs and in introns. This global APA change is observed in multiple in vitro trophoblast differentiation models, and in single cells from placentas at different stages of pregnancy.