Bremsstrahlung cannon design for shock ignition relevant regime

We report on the optimization of a BremsStrahlung Cannon (BSC) design for the investigation of laser-driven fast electron populations in a shock ignition relevant experimental campaign at the Laser Megajoule-PETawatt Aquitaine Laser facility. In this regime with laser intensities of 10¹⁵ W/cm²-10¹⁶ W/cm², fast electrons with energies ≤100 keV are expected to be generated through Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) and Two Plasmon Decay (TPD) instabilities. The main purpose of the BSC in our experiment is to identify the contribution to x-ray emission from bremsstrahlung of fast electrons originating from SRS and TPD, with expected temperatures of 40 keV and 95 keV, respectively. Data analysis and reconstruction of the distributions of x-ray photons incident on the BSC are described.

Laser-driven shock waves studied by x-ray radiography

Multimegabar laser-driven shock waves are unique tools for studying matter under extreme conditions. Accurate characterization of shocked matter is for instance necessary for measurements of equation of state data or opacities. This paper reports experiments performed at the LULI facility on the diagnosis of shock waves, using x-ray-absorption radiography. Radiographs are analyzed using standard Abel inversion. In addition, synthetic radiographs, which also take into account the finite size of the x-ray source, are generated using density maps produced by hydrodynamic simulations. Reported data refer to both plane cylindrical targets and hemispherical targets. Evolution and deformation of the shock front could be followed using hydrodynamic simulations.

Dietary protection during radiation therapy

Eighteen patients receiving Cobalt 60 irradiation for abdominal or pelvic malignancies were assigned at random to eat either a semi-hydrolyzed diet (Flexical: 10 g % casein hydrolsate; 14 g % triglycerides, 20% of which medium chain; 66% disaccharides) or a normal diet. There are no significant differences between these two groups with respect to age and the ratio of ideal to actual caloric intake. The patients in the control group received on the average a total of 3900 rd and those in the Flexical group 4040 rd. Generally, Flexical appeared to have a significant positive effect on body weight. In addition, radiation-induced diarrhea was not a problem in the Flexical group. In the latter group, serum proteins including immunoglobulins remained essentially unchanged during therapy while a moderate but significant fall was observed in all control patients. No significant difference between the two groups was observed with respect to peripheral blood hematocrit, red and white cell counts. However, the drop in blood lymphocytes following irradiation was significantly less in the Flexical group. The mechanisms of radioprotection are discussed. These preliminary data indicate that the nutritional and perhaps the immunological status of cancer patients receiving intensive irradiation can be maintained by dietary measures.