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Recent research and development into the formation of nanoscale channels as a central component of nanofluidic biochip systems revolutionized the biological and chemical fields. Exploration of new pathways to form nanochannels is increasingly necessary to provide a new generation of analytical tools with accurate control of liquid fluid flow, high selectivity and increased mass flow rate. Here, we demonstrate that a single 9-keV pulse from X-ray free-electron-laser can form a nanoscale mm-long cavity in LiF. The laser-generated shock pressure results in channel formation with >1,000 length-to-diameter aspect ratio. The development of void is analyzed via continuum and atomistic simulations revealing a sequence of processes leading to the final long cavity structure. This work presents the study of mm-long nanochannel formation by a single high-brilliance X-ray free-electron laser pulse. With MHz repetition rate X-ray free electron laser opens a new avenue for the development of lab-on-chip applications in any material, including those non-transparent to optical lasers. A single ultrashort pulse from X-ray free-electron laser is shown to produce a submicron, with >1,000 length-to-diameter aspect ratio long channel in solid material. The results open a new avenue for development of artificial nanofluidic devices with confinement down to the molecular level.

The process of wave formation at the contact boundary of colliding metal plates is a fundamental basis of explosive welding technology. In this case, the metals are in a pseudo-liquid state at the initial stages of the process, and from a mathematical point of view, a wave formation process can be described by compressible multiphase models. The work is devoted to the development of a three-fluid mathematical model based on the Baer–Nunziato system of equations and a corresponding numerical algorithm based on the HLL and HLLC methods, stiff pressure, and velocity relaxation procedures for simulation of the high-speed impact of metal plates in a one-dimensional statement. The problem of collision of a lead plate at a speed of 500 m/s with a resting steel plate was simulated using the developed model and algorithm. The problem statement corresponded to full-scale experiments, with lead, steel, and ambient air as three phases. The arrival times of shock waves at the free boundaries of the plates and rarefaction waves at the contact boundary of the plates, as well as the acceleration of the contact boundary after the passage of rarefaction waves through it, were estimated. For the case of a 3-mm-thick steel plate and a 2-mm-thick lead plate, the simulated time of the rarefaction wave arrival at the contact boundary constituted 1.05 μs, and it was in good agreement with the experimental value 1.1 μs. The developed numerical approach can be extended to the multidimensional case for modeling the instability of the contact boundary and wave formation in the oblique collision of plates in the Eulerian formalism.

The present study examines the possibility of numerical simulation of a strong shock wave propagating over the surface of a dense layer of particles poured onto an impermeable wall using the Baer-Nunizato two-phase flow model. The setting of the problem follows the full-scale experiment. The mathematical model is based on a two-dimensional system of Baer-Nunziato equations and takes into account intergranular stresses arising in the solid phase of particles. The computational algorithm is based on the HLLC method with a pressure relaxation procedure. The developed algorithm proved to be efficient for two-phase problems with explicit interfacial boundaries and strong shock waves. These issues are typical of problems arising from the interaction of a shock wave with a bed or a layer of particles. A comparison with the simulations and full-scale experiments of other authors is carried out. A reasonable agreement with the experiment is obtained for the angles of the transmitted compaction wave and granular contact, including their dependency on the intensity of the propagating shock wave. The granular contact angle increases with the incident shock wave Mach number, while the transmitted compaction wave angle decreases. The explanation of the phenomenon of the decrease in thickness of the compacted region in the layer with the increase in intensity of the propagating shock wave is given. The main reason is that the maximal value of the particle volume fraction in the plug of compacted particles in the layer rises with the increase in shock wave intensity.

Sub-picosecond optical laser processing of metals is actively utilized for modification of a heated surface layer. But for deeper modification of different materials a laser in the hard x-ray range is required. Here, we demonstrate that a single 9-keV x-ray pulse from a free-electron laser can form a um-diameter cylindrical cavity with length of ~1 mm in LiF surrounded by shock-transformed material. The plasma-generated shock wave with TPa-level pressure results in damage, melting and polymorphic transformations of any material, including transparent and non-transparent to conventional optical lasers. Moreover, cylindrical shocks can be utilized to obtain a considerable amount of exotic high-pressure polymorphs. Pressure wave propagation in LiF, radial material flow, formation of cracks and voids are analyzed via continuum and atomistic simulations revealing a sequence of processes leading to the final structure with the long cavity. Similar results can be produced with semiconductors and ceramics, which opens a new pathway for development of laser material processing with hard x-ray pulses.

Ionizing radiation (IR) is used for patients diagnosed with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, radiotherapy remains largely palliative due to the survival of specific cell subpopulations. In the present study, the sublines of NSCLC cells, A549IR (p53wt) and H1299IR (p53null) survived multifraction X-ray radiation exposure (MFR) at a total dose of 60 Gy were investigated three weeks after the MFR course. We compared radiosensitivity (colony formation), expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, migration activity, autophagy, and HR-dependent DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in the bulk and entire CD44high/CD166high CSC-like populations of both parental and MFR survived NSCLC cells. We demonstrated that the p53 status affected: the pattern of expression of N-cadherin, E-cadherin, Vimentin, witnessing the appearance of EMT-like phenotype of MFR-surviving sublines; 1D confined migratory behavior (wound healing); the capability of an irradiated cell to continue to divide and form a colony of NSCLC cells before and after MFR; influencing the CD44/CD166 expression level in MFR-surviving NSCLC cells after additional single irradiation. Our data further emphasize the impact of p53 status on the decay of γH2AX foci and the associated efficacy of the DSB repair in NSCLC cells survived after MFR. We revealed that Rad51 protein might play a principal role in MFR-surviving of p53 null NSCLC cells promoting DNA DSB repair by homologous recombination (HR) pathway. The proportion of Rad51 + cells elevated in CD44high/CD166high population in MFR-surviving p53wt and p53null sublines and their parental cells. The p53wt ensures DNA-PK-mediated DSB repair for both parental and MFR-surviving cells irrespectively of a subsequent additional single irradiation. Whereas in the absence of p53, a dose-dependent increase of DNA-PK-mediated non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) occurred as an early post-irradiation response is more intensive in the CSC-like population MFR-surviving H1299IR, compared to their parental H1299 cells. Our study strictly observed a significantly higher content of LC3 + cells in the CD44high/CD166high populations of p53wt MFR-surviving cells, which enriched the CSC-like cells in contrast to their p53null counterparts. The additional 2 Gy and 5 Gy X-ray exposure leads to the dose-dependent increase in the proportion of LC3 + cells in CD44high/CD166high population of both parental p53wt and p53null, but not MFR-surviving NSCLC sublines. Our data indicated that autophagy is not necessarily associated with CSC-like cells’ radiosensitivity, emphasizing that careful assessment of other milestone processes (such as senescence and autophagy-p53-Zeb1 axis) of primary radiation responses may provide new potential targets modulated for therapeutic benefit through radiosensitizing cancer cells while rescuing normal tissue. Our findings also shed light on the intricate crosstalk between autophagy and the p53-related EMT, by which MFR-surviving cells might obtain an invasive phenotype and metastatic potential.