The molecular and crystal structure of the hydrated form of chitosan, which was obtained by deacetylation of chitin from crab tendon, was determined by the X-ray fiber diffraction method and the linked-atom least-squares method. The chitosan chains crystallize in an orthorhombic unit cell with dimensions a = 8.95(4), b = 16.97(6), c (fiber axis) = 10.34(4) Å and a space group P212121. The chain conformation is a 2-fold helix stabilized by O3---O5 hydrogen bond with the gt orientation of O6. The unit cell contains four chains and eight water molecules. There are direct hydrogen bonds (N2---O6) between adjacent chains along the b-axis, which makes a sheet structure parallel to the bc-plane. These sheets stack along the a-axis. Each sheet is related to its neighboring sheet by 21-symmetry along the b-axis. Water molecules form columns between these sheets and contribute to stabilize the structure by making water-bridges between polymer chains.

Demonstrating improved confinement of energetic ions is one of the key goals of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator. In the past campaigns, measuring confined fast ions has proven to be challenging. Future deuterium campaigns would open up the option of using fusion-produced neutrons to indirectly observe confined fast ions. There are two neutron populations: 2.45 MeV neutrons from thermonuclear and beam-target fusion, and 14.1 MeV neutrons from DT reactions between tritium fusion products and bulk deuterium. The 14.1 MeV neutron signal can be measured using a scintillating fiber neutron detector, whereas the overall neutron rate is monitored by common radiation safety detectors, for instance fission chambers. The fusion rates are dependent on the slowing-down distribution of the deuterium and tritium ions, which in turn depend on the magnetic configuration via fast ion orbits. In this work, we investigate the effect of magnetic configuration on neutron production rates in W7-X. The neutral beam injection, beam and triton slowing-down distributions, and the fusion reactivity are simulated with the ASCOT suite of codes. The results indicate that the magnetic configuration has only a small effect on the production of 2.45 MeV neutrons from DD fusion and, particularly, on the 14.1 MeV neutron production rates. Despite triton losses of up to 50 %, the amount of 14.1 MeV neutrons produced might be sufficient for a time-resolved detection using a scintillating fiber detector, although only in high-performance discharges.

This tutorial review introduces pedal motion in crystals, where a pair of benzene rings in a molecule move like the pedals of a bicycle. The pedal motion triggers conformational interconversions, which result in disordered crystal structures. The pedal motion also plays important roles in solid-state reactions. This type of molecular motion occurs in a wide range of compounds, although the detection of the process is difficult in most cases. This review also describes how powerful X-ray diffraction analysis is in investigating dynamic processes in crystals, especially focusing on disorder analysis as a function of temperature.

After completing the main construction phase of Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and successfully commissioning the device, first plasma operation started at the end of 2015. Integral commissioning of plasma start-up and operation using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and an extensive set of plasma diagnostics have been completed, allowing initial physics studies during the first operational campaign. Both in helium and hydrogen, plasma breakdown was easily achieved. Gaining experience with plasma vessel conditioning, discharge lengths could be extended gradually. Eventually, discharges lasted up to 6 s, reaching an injected energy of 4 MJ, which is twice the limit originally agreed for the limiter configuration employed during the first operational campaign. At power levels of 4 MW central electron densities reached 3  ×  1019 m−3, central electron temperatures reached values of 7 keV and ion temperatures reached just above 2 keV. Important physics studies during this first operational phase include a first assessment of power balance and energy confinement, ECRH power deposition experiments, 2nd harmonic O-mode ECRH using multi-pass absorption, and current drive experiments using electron cyclotron current drive. As in many plasma discharges the electron temperature exceeds the ion temperature significantly, these plasmas are governed by core electron root confinement showing a strong positive electric field in the plasma centre.

Crystal structures of (E)-azobenzene (1), (E)-2,2′- dimethylazobenzene (2), (E)-3,3′-dimethylazobenzene (3) and (E)-4,4′-dimethylazobenzene (4) were determined by X-ray diffraction at various temperatures. An apparent shrinkage of the N=N bond and its temperature dependence were observed and are interpreted in terms of an artifact caused by the torsional vibration of the N—Ph bonds in crystals. In the crystal structures of (1), (3) and (4) the dynamic disorder was observed. The disorder is accounted for by the torsional vibration whose amplitude is large enough to give rise to the conformational interconversion. No disorder was observed for a crystal of (2). This is ascribed to the large difference in energy of the two conformers as free molecules. The true length of the N=N bond in azobenzenes was estimated to be 1.26–1.27 Å.

Some molecules that have a molecular skeleton similar to stilbenes and azobenzenes are known to show an orientational disorder in the crystals. Some of the disorders are known to be dynamic and mediated by a pedal motion in crystals. Dynamic processes of (E)-stilbene (1) and (E)-3,3',4,4'-tetramethylazobenzene (2) in the crystals were investigated by X-ray diffraction analyses. The dynamic disorder and the pedal motion were detected at higher temperature, even in the molecules that showed no traces of the disorder at room temperature. The results demonstrated that the pedal motion should always be taken into account, even if no disorder is detected. The reasons for the nonoccurrence of the disorder and for the prevalence of the pedal motion are also discussed.

Two-photon absorption (2PA) properties of self-assembled porphyrins were investigated. The butadiyne-linked porphyrin array exhibited a 20 times larger 2PA cross section than the meso-meso-linked self-assembled array due to the expansion of pi-conjugation. Higher-order nonlinear absorption was also observed in the former porphyrin.

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