X-ray Spectrometry / Ezine
Brewing up crystal structures: Hoppy bitterness
Date: Jan 15, 2013
Author: David Bradley
During brewing, beer obtains its bitter flavour from the bitter iso-alpha acids that come from hops. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists now report that they have used X-ray crystallography to determine the absolute configurations of these humulones and isohumulones, as well as several of their derivatives.
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Journal Highlight: X-ray imaging of leaf venation networks
Date: Jan 14, 2013
Author: spectroscopyNOW
Commercial and synchrotron X-ray imaging has been applied to leaf venation networks allowing major and minor veins to be consistently visualised at a rate of several hundred samples per day.
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Stomaching X-rays: Gastric microbe attack
Date: Jan 7, 2013
Author: David Bradley
An X-ray investigation has revealed a potential new way to attack the common gastric infection Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen known to cause ulcer and significantly increase the risk of developing stomach cancer.
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Journal Highlight: Classification and discrimination of some cosmetic face powders using XRF spectrometry with chemometric data analysis
Date: Dec 17, 2012
Author: spectroscopyNOW
Wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry has been employed for multi-elemental analysis of cosmetic powders, with cluster analysis and principal components analysis discriminating between samples of traditional or mineral formulation.
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Diffract and destroy: 3D sleeping sickness enzyme
Date: Dec 12, 2012
Author:
The X-ray structure of an enzyme crucial to the life cycle of the microbial parasite that causes African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in humans has been determined through an international collaboration.
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Journal Highlight: X-ray-induced photo-chemistry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy of biological samples
Date: Dec 10, 2012
Author: spectroscopyNOW
The origins of X-ray-induced photo-chemistry in X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments on biological samples have been reviewed.
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Muse on X-rays: Supermassive black hole
Date: Dec 1, 2012
Author:
A supermassive black hole 12.4 billion light years from Earth is pumping out a jet of X-rays that could give astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory a glimpse into how such bodies form and the role they play in galaxy formation in the early universe.
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Xenon warriors' success: Supercharged
Date: Nov 15, 2012
Author:
It is now possible to use a coherent light source to strip electrons from relatively inert xenon atoms at much lower energies than previously considered plausible. Using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the researchers involved have shown that they can create a "supercharged" form of xenon.
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Journal Highlight: Analysis of the Hoard of Beçin using X-ray-based techniques
Date: Nov 12, 2012
Author: spectroscopyNOW
A total of 416 coins from the 60,000 in the Hoard of Beçin from the Ottoman Empire were analysed by µ-synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence analysis and µ-proton-induced X-ray emission to confirm their fineness and provenance.
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Hand-holding molecules: X-rayed chaperones
Date: Nov 1, 2012
Author: David Bradley
X-ray crystallography has been used to identify two new small chaperone molecules. The targets may prove useful in developing the first pharmaceutical treatment for the rare but debilitating inherited metabolic disorder Schindler/Kanzaki disease.
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