X-ray Spectrometry / Ezine
Nice and nano does it: Particulate improvements to alloys
Date: Aug 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
Diffraction, microscopy and theoretical calculations have all been combined to show how aluminium nanoparticles alter the alloy matrix in which they are embedded. The study could lead to approaches for making tunable materials for engineering, construction and aeronautics based on nanotechnology.
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Journal Highlight: Hard X-ray Fourier transform holography from an array of oriented referenced objects
Date: Aug 8, 2011
Author:
Hard X-ray Fourier transform holography, a promising method for imaging nanoscale objects including biological molecules, has been improved by using an array of oriented objects, each with its own reference, to increase the inherent low scattering intensities.
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Astrovirus structure: X-rayed star
Date: Aug 1, 2011
Author: David Bradley
X-ray crystallography reveals the structure of a common virus that causes juvenile diarrhoea, astrovirus, hinting at the development of potential drugs for this often lethal illness.
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Medical, edible cat litter: Sepiolite succumbs to XRD
Date: Jul 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
Sepiolite has been known since Roman times when it was used to filter and purify wine, today it's commonly found in cat litter trays. It absorbs huge amounts of liquid as it is so porous now an X-ray diffraction study could help explain why and perhaps lead to more technological applications, such as the development of food binders and drug-delivery agents.
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Journal Highlight: X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection
Date: Jul 11, 2011
Author:
The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process.
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Good news for summer: Hayfever X-rayed
Date: Jul 1, 2011
Author: David Bradley
There is potentially welcome news for hayfever sufferers as researchers have now obtained an X-ray crystal structure of the human histamine H1 receptor (H1R). The team reported details in the journal Nature at the end of June and suggest that the structure could help in the development of novel antihistamine drugs.
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Cystitis clue: XRD reveals antibiotic target
Date: Jun 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
An international team has revealed the structure of a complex protein called FimD that acts as an assembly platform for the pili of the bacteria that cause cystitis. The structure of the FimD protein means scientists reveals, for the first time, how these pili "hairs" are assembled from individual protein subunits to complete structures. The work offers up a new target for antibiotic drug design.
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Journal Highlight: Is PIXE still a useful technique for the analysis of atmospheric aerosols? The LABEC experience
Date: Jun 13, 2011
Author:
Recent atmospheric aerosol monitoring campaigns, performed in urban and remote areas, are presented to evidence how particle-induced X-ray emission can still provide unique information in natural aerosol studies.
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Microbe power: electron-transfer protein structure
Date: Jun 1, 2011
Author: David Bradley
X-ray diffraction has been used to reveal the structure of proteins attached to the surface of the microbe Shewanella oneidensis. These proteins can transfer electrons making this micro-organism potentially rather interesting as an electricity-generating system.
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Ancient minerals: artefacts of the primordial solar system
Date: May 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
The discovery of the oldest mineral in the solar system, krotite, found in an unusual refractory inclusion of the meteorite NWA 1934 from northwest Africa, provides an unprecedented look back into deep time to the first planetary materials formed in our solar system.
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