Design and synthesis of large Stokes shift DNA dyes with reduced genotoxicity.

Despite intensive search over the past decades, only a few small-molecule DNA fluorescent dyes were found with large Stokes shifts. These molecules, however, are often too toxic for widespread usage. Here, we designed DNA-specific fluorescent dyes rooted in benzimidazole architectures with a hitherto unexplored molecular framework based on thiazole-benzimidazole scaffolding. We further incorporated a pyrazole ring with an extended sidechain to prevent cell penetration. These novel benzimidazole derivatives were predicted by quantum calculations and subsequently validated to have large Stokes shifts ranging from 135 to 143 nm, with their emission colors changed from capri blue for the Hoechst reference compound to iguana green. These readily-synthesized compounds, which displayed improved DNA staining intensity and detection limits along with a complete loss of capability for cellular membrane permeation and negligible mutagenic effects as designed, offer a safer alternative to the existing high-performance small-molecule DNA fluorescent dyes.

Measurement of Time-Dependent Drive Flux on the Capsule for Indirectly Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments.

A new method for measuring the time-dependent drive flux at the hohlraum center is proposed as a better alternative to conventional wall-based techniques. The drive flux here is obtained by simultaneous measurement of the reemitted flux and shock velocity from a three-layered "cakelike" sample. With these two independent observables, the influence induced by the uncertainty of the material parameters of the sample can be effectively decreased. The influence from the closure of the laser entrance hole, which was the main challenge in conventional wall-based techniques, was avoided through localized reemitted flux measurement, facilitating drive flux measurement throughout the entire time history. These studies pave a new way for probing the time-dependent drive flux, for both cylindrical hohlraums and novel hohlraums with six laser entrance holes.

One-dimensional space resolving flat-field holographic grating soft x-ray framing camera spectrograph for laser plasma diagnostics.

A 1D space resolving x-ray spectrum diagnostic system has been developed to study the radiation opacity of hot plasma on SG-II laser facility. The diagnostic system consists of a 2400 lines/mm flat-field holographic grating and a gated microchannel plate coupled with an optical CCD and covers the wavelength range of 5-50 Å. The holographic grating was compared with a ruled one by measuring the emission spectra from a laser-produced molybdenum plasma. The results indicate that the holographic grating possesses better sensitivity than the ruled grating having nearly similar spectral resolution. The spectrograph has been used in radiative opacity measurement of Fe plasma. Simultaneous measurements of the backlight source and the transmission spectrum in appointed time range in one shot have been accomplished successfully with the holographic grating spectrometer. The 2p-3d transition absorption of Fe plasma near 15.5 Å in has been observed clearly.