Aquatic Ferrous Solutions of Prebiotic Mineral Salts as Strong UV Protectants and Possible Loci of Life Origin.

Liposomes are lipid-bilayer vesicles that spontaneously self-assemble from fatty acids (or other amphiphiles) in water by encapsulating surrounding aqueous media. After British scientist Alec Bangham described this phenomenon in the early 1960s, they became a prominent participant in the hypotheses on life origin, particularly in the Lipid World model. A novel scenario of self-sustained Darwinian liposome evolution is based on ever-present natural phenomena of cyclic day/night solar UV radiation and gravitational submersion of liposomes in the Archean aqueous media.

Exploring the Lipid World Hypothesis: A Novel Scenario of Self-Sustained Darwinian Evolution of the Liposomes.

According to the Lipid World hypothesis, life on Earth originated with the emergence of amphiphilic assemblies in the form of lipid micelles and vesicles (liposomes). However, the mechanism of appearance of the information molecules (ribozymes/RNA) accompanying that process, considered obligatory for Darwinian evolution, is unclear. We propose a novel scenario of self-sustained Darwinian evolution of the liposomes driven by ever-present natural phenomena: solar UV radiation, day/night cycle, gravity, and the formation of liposomes in an aqueous media.

Design of proton deflectometry with in situ x-ray fiducial for magnetized high-energy-density systems.

We report a design and implementation of proton deflectometry with an in situ reference x-ray image of a mesh to precisely measure non-uniform magnetic fields in expanding plasmas at the OMEGA and OMEGA EP laser facilities. The technique has been developed with proton and x-ray sources generated from both directly driven capsule implosions and short pulse laser-solid interactions. The accuracy of the measurement depends on the contrast of both the proton and x-ray images.

Dispersion calibration for the National Ignition Facility electron-positron-proton spectrometers for intense laser matter interactions.

Electron-positron pairs, produced in intense laser-solid interactions, are diagnosed using magnetic spectrometers with image plates, such as the National Ignition Facility Electron-Positron-Proton Spectrometers (EPPSs). Although modeling can help infer the quantitative value, the accuracy of the models needs to be verified to ensure measurement quality. The dispersion of low-energy electrons and positrons may be affected by fringe magnetic fields near the entrance of the EPPS.

Modeling multi-needle injection into solid tumor.

The discovery of mechanisms by which the cancer cells avoid the host immune attack (immune checkpoints) as well the capability of the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to blockade the checkpoint proteins on cancer and tumor-infiltrating cells (CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1) promised new breakthroughs in the cure of cancer. After these mechanisms of cancer escaping the host immunity were undoubtedly confirmed in numerous experimental and clinical studies, the FDA approval of CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 mAbs for systemic treatment thought to revolutionize the outcome of cancer treatment. However, as of today, the anticipated curative effect of anti-CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 mAb treatments has been observed only in a small population of patients.

A multi-channel capacitive probe for electrostatic fluctuation measurement in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch.

A 40-channel capacitive probe has been developed to measure the electrostatic fluctuations associated with the tearing modes deep into Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed field pinch plasma. The capacitive probe measures the ac component of the plasma potential via the voltage induced on stainless steel electrodes capacitively coupled with the plasma through a thin annular layer of boron nitride (BN) dielectric (also serves as the particle shield). When bombarded by the plasma electrons, BN provides a sufficiently large secondary electron emission for the induced voltage to be very close to the plasma potential.