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Chalk and other sediments found at the bottom of the ocean are largely made up of microscopic shells. These shells contain important chemical clues to the environment in which the animal lived, such as temperature, ocean pH, ocean productivity, ocean circulation, global ice volumes and much more. But there are questions as to how to interpret these clues, particularly in understanding how the shell chemistry changed after the animal dies, over the millions of years it lies in the sediments. ...
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Since the middle of the 20th century, infrared (IR) spectroscopy coupled to microscopy has been used as a non destructive, label free, highly sensitive and specific analytical method to reveal molecular structure. Nowadays, synchrotron based IR microspectroscopy offers a signal-to-noise spectral quality unreachable by other broadband sources, and achieves the highest optically attainable IR spatial resolution on microscopic scale samples. This is particularly relevant in Life Sciences, with ...
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Accurate detection and classification of materials, such as diseased tissues or illicit substances, is critical and misclassification can sometimes have life threatening consequences. Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy has been widely adopted as a simple but powerful characterisation tool, effectively producing a fingerprint of the samples’ molecular composition and aiding classification. IR absorption spectroscopy is quantitative and highly sensitive, but some measurement configurations, ...
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The high energy and short wavelength of X-rays make them ideal for imaging inner features of samples at the sub-micrometer scale. Over the past twenty years, imaging techniques exploiting the phase of X-rays have progressively developed, pushed by the desire of achieving higher resolution, and to image light materials such as biological soft tissue. X-ray grating interferometry (XGI) is one such successful technique that has seen its user community growing both at synchrotrons and lab-based ...
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Micro-beam Laue diffraction is a versatile probe for orientation and elastic strain in individual grains of metallic polycrystals. It can help elucidate the dependence of macroscopic material behaviour (deformation response, fatigue, fracture etc.) on microstructure, defect population, macro- to microscopic load redistribution, etc. Furthermore, it can provide quantitative validation for the crystal plasticity models used to study structural engineering alloys. The application of micro-beam ...
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Aluminium hydroxide, Al(OH)3, is a lamellar material with octahedral vacancies in its layers. It has long been known that it can ‘imbibe’ LiX salts to form layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of the form [LiAl2(OH)6]X·H2O, where X is a generic anion. LDHs are important ion-exchangers, with applications in catalysis, biomedicine, and polymer science. Although size considerations should not be problematic, the incorporation of other metal ions into the octahedral vacancies in Al(OH)3 is ...
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To date, the development of inert anode materials has relied on the characterisation of samples which have been removed from their operational environment at various pre-defined points of interest1. This ex situ approach can be problematic, as conventional analysis techniques typically require some form of sample preparation, ranging from simply allowing the sample to cool, to more invasive procedures such as cutting and polishing. While any material studied outside of its operational ...
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Orthopaedic implants improve the quality of life of thousands of people every year, reducing pain and increasing mobility and function. In the past implants have been made of metal alloys and polyethylene, but these implants can fail, causing discomfort and, could ultimately mean further surgery. Recently implants have been developed made from irradiated and annealed ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) that should have better performance. However, the molecular processes that ...
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Nanoparticles (NP) are used in different applications such as cosmetics and medicine. To assess potential toxic effects and to design NP-based drug delivery systems it is critical to understand what happens to proteins upon interaction with these special particles. This information is difficult to obtain, but for the first time we have shown that using the B23 beamline, it is possible to detect and analyze structural changes of proteins in protein-metallic nanoparticle complexes1. By using ...
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DNA is, besides displaying its central biological role as bearer of the genetic material, an extremely versatile construction material. DNA has become very attractive for the creation of novel nanosized objects. We are studying the influence of modifications of DNA with the aim to create functional DNA based nano-materials. Our modifications generally consist of large chromophores, which show specific light-induced activity such as energy or electron transfer. We are using modifications ...
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The three dimensional structure (i.e. conformation) of natural proteins and peptides plays an important role in their biological activity and has led to the development of non-natural backbones which mimic such conformations and offers therapeutic advantages. Peptoids are peptidomimetics where the chemical modification is responsible for desirable chemical, physical and biological properties. The presence of tertiary amides in the peptoid backbone results in complex NMR spectra due to ...
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The coupled magnetic and electronic properties of rare-earth doped GaN semiconductors have attracted a lot of interest by researchers from industry and academia in recent years. Researchers from University of Strathclyde, Osaka University (Japan) and Diamond Light Source have investigated Eu-doped GaN at Diamond beamlines B18 and I06. Their results have been published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.
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The coupled magnetic and electronic properties of rare-earth doped GaN semiconductors have attracted a lot of interest by researchers from industry and academia in recent years. Researchers from University of Strathclyde, Osaka University (Japan) and Diamond Light Source have investigated Eu-doped GaN at Diamond beamlines B18 and I06. Their results have been published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.
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The properties of nanocrystalline materials, where crystallinity is limited to particles of a few nanometres in dimension, are heavily researched in a number of contemporary areas. This is because once the crystal is reduced to such a small size, the properties may change dramatically from the bulk material. The structure of the surface atomic arrangement also becomes a significant proportion of the total structure, which may change the reactivity of the material in a nanocrystalline form. ...
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The impressive appearance of the second largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, York Minster, has dominated the townscape since medieval times (Figure 1). Representing the architectural expression of developing Christianity during that period, its international historical significance is unquestioned, and the Minster has provided a source of inspiration for scholars through the ages. However, recent centuries have seen conservationists battling to preserve the authenticity of this ...
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Recently published work from the Infrared beamline at the Diamond Light Source has the potential to speed up and simplify investigations in cell biology. The report, highlighted on the front cover of the 14th November 2012 issue of The Analyst, details a technique that has been developed to rapidly and effectively screen cell samples, replacing a key step in single cell analysis that is usually carried out by the human eye.
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A European collaboration of scientists from the UK, Spain, Italy, France and the Ukraine has used interfacial strain to drive large temperature changes in thin magnetic films. Their results, published this week in Nature Materials, pave the way for further studies and R&D, with the potential to deliver environmentally friendly, energy-efficient refrigeration in both domestic and industrial appliances.
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In contrast to mammals, plants do not have mobile defender cells and an adaptive immune system; they defend themselves against attack from pathogens using an innate immune system. This immune system relies on the detection of foreign molecules and responds to these in different ways. One such way is the Hypersensitive Response (HR) where plant host cells undergo localised cell death. This makes it challenging for invading pathogens to establish a successful infection. HR is normally observed ...
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Scientists at the University of Oxford and Diamond Light Source have described a new chemical catalyst for producing methanol, a promising future biofuel. By reducing the energy needed to convert biomass to methanol, the new catalyst offers a more sustainable way to make the useful chemical and fuel.
At present, methanol is used primarily in industrial chemistry, including the manufacture of plastics and synthetic fibres, and as a fuel in fuel cells. It is manufactured from natural gas, ...
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A collaboration of scientists from the University of Nottingham, STFC’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Diamond Light Source, the University of Oxford and Peking University in China, have created a new low-cost material that can capture harmful gases, offering exciting prospects for combating atmospheric pollution.
