PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

LiXEdrom: Innovative measuring chamber for X-ray study of liquid jets

2010-09-10
(Press-News.org) X-rays are the medium of choice for many scientific studies. When you shine them on a sample, they literally shed light on the material's structure, providing loads of information about it. Unfortunately, this mostly applies to solids only, since the sample has to be in a vacuum for the entire time it is being irradiated with soft X-rays. For liquids, that means you have to remove all the water. In the case of biological samples such as proteins, however, this destroys their natural environment. The solution to this problems has always been to measure liquids through membranes. These membranes keep the evacuated side separate from the non-evacuated side. The trouble is, one can never really be sure whether or not membrane effects are distorting the measurement results.

At Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), Emad Aziz, head of a junior research group, has shown that liquids can be investigated by X-ray emission spectroscopy without using membranes after all. At the synchrotron source BESSY II, the group has built a special setup – the LiXEdrom. It is unique in that the liquid is shot as a jet through the X-ray beam. The jet from the nozzle becomes so thin and, at 80 metres per second, so fast that the vacuum can be maintained without the need of a membrane.

"On our LiXEdrom, we create a vacuum in the liquid chamber of up to 10-6 millibar, and can now perform both absorption and emission measurements, giving us even more precise information about the structure of a material," says Emad Aziz. It also allows a clear "view" of elements that possess absorption and emission energies similar to the energies of the membrane materials, and would therefore overlap with the membrane in the spectrum when measured. This concerns above all carbon and nitrogen – precisely those elements of interest in biological samples.

In their first measurements, published in Chemical Physics (DOI: 10.1016/JChemPhys.2010.08.023) and selected for the cover, the group demonstrated they can achieve energy resolutions on their LiXEdrom comparable to those of the latest high resolution XES spectrometers. For water, they have proven that results obtained from an earlier setup were not overlapped by disturbing membrane effects. They have also studied the electronic structure of nickel ions, unhampered by a risk of deposits on a membrane wall distorting the results. For many applications such as protein studies, this is a significant step towards obtaining reliable structural information.

INFORMATION:

Original paper in Chem. Phys., DOI 10.1016/JChemPhys.2010.08.023
„High Resolution X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Water and Aqueous Ions Using the Micro-Jet Technique", K.M. Lange et al.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Special focus on glycomics in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology

2010-09-10
New Rochelle, NY, September 10, 2010—The glycome, encompassing all of the complex sugars produced by an organism, is comprised of multiple families of molecules whose function in the human body is often determined by the structure, composition, and placement of the attached sugars, as explored in a comprehensive look at the field of glycomics in a group of key articles in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The relevant articles are available free online at www.liebertpub.com/omi Guest ...

Drug holds promise to halt debilitating condition of diabetes

2010-09-10
LAWRENCE — A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found. The researchers recently published an article showing that KU-32 can stop and even reverse diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or DPN, in mice. The condition leads to death of nerves in the extremities of individuals with diabetes. "People with DPN can be very sensitive to light touch, which can cause significant pain," said Rick Dobrowsky, professor of pharmacology ...

The precious commodity of water

2010-09-10
As the General Assembly of the UN resolved on July 28 of this year, clean drinking water and basic sanitary provision are human rights. Unfortunately, there are more than one billion people all over the world who do not have access to drinking water, while as many as 2.6 billion people live without any sanitary systems at all – that is well over one-third of the world's population. Not only that, water is a pre-eminent economic factor because agriculture and industry consume more than four-fifths of this precious commodity these days. A study by the UN indicates that ...

Research shows unemployment programs lacking for people with disabilities

2010-09-10
LAWRENCE — Federal programs to assist the unemployed are failing job seekers with disabilities, according to an investigation by Jean Hall and Kathy Parker of the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. The KU study, published recently in the Career Development Quarterly, shows two major federal programs — the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which requires recipients to find employment within two years, and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which set up "One-Stop" centers to cluster services for the unemployed — have inadequacies ...

Playing snooker with atoms

Playing snooker with atoms
2010-09-10
Designed to be the most spectacular concert hall in Germany, the construction of the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg is a controversial project, but it is already creating a sensation in the architectural world. Nobody has ever tried to build windows this high, each one five meters tall, of unique dimensions, and glazed with multifunctional insulating glass. The demands on the architectural glass used in modern structures like this are increasing all the time. Quite apart from their large surface area, they also have to offer outstanding optical characteristics and at ...

A smart use for wisdom teeth: Making stem cells

2010-09-10
VIDEO: MSCs taken from wisdom teeth and reprogrammed into stem cells can become numerous other cell types, like these beating cardiomyocytes. Click here for more information. For most people, wisdom teeth are not much more than an annoyance that eventually needs to be removed. However, a new study appearing in the September 17 Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that wisdom teeth contain a valuable reservoir of tissue for the creation of stem cells; thus, everyone might ...

Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasites

Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasites
2010-09-10
TORONTO, ON – Each year, thousands of acres of crops are planted throughout Africa, Asia and Australia only to be laid to waste by a parasitic plant called Striga, also known as witchweed. It is one of the largest challenges to food security in Africa, and a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered chemicals and genes that may break Striga's stranglehold. When crops grow, their roots release a plant hormone called strigolactone. If the soil contains Striga seed, it will use the released strigolactone as a cue to germinate and ...

Graphene may hold key to speeding up DNA sequencing

Graphene may hold key to speeding up DNA sequencing
2010-09-10
Cambridge, Mass. - September 9, 2010 - In a paper published as the cover story of the September 9, 2010 Nature, researchers from Harvard University and MIT have demonstrated that graphene, a surprisingly robust planar sheet of carbon just one-atom thick, can act as an artificial membrane separating two liquid reservoirs. By drilling a tiny pore just a few-nanometers in diameter, called a nanopore, in the graphene membrane, they were able to measure exchange of ions through the pore and demonstrated that a long DNA molecule can be pulled through the graphene nanopore just ...

WideStance Productions Announces New Musical Spoof, "Fairies With Children - The Yes on Hate Episode"

2010-09-10
FAIRIES WITH CHILDREN OPENS TO FIGHT FOR GAY EQUALITY (Drag Musical Spoof focuses on the Suburban Conservative as the key to changing hearts and minds of all Americans) The new musical spoof "Fairies With Children, The Yes On Hate Episode" will open October 22nd at the Meta Theatre 7801 Melrose Avenue for a six week run, Friday and Saturday only at 8pm. The show exposes the anti gay agenda prevalent in the suburbs of California. The gender bending parody is being produced by WideStance Productions (The Golden Gays). A percentage of the proceeds from the show will ...

Socialvest.us Offers Everyone an Easy Way to Fundraise for Non-Profit Organizations -- Everyday Shopping. Extraordinary Change.

2010-09-10
Newly launched SocialVest is an innovative cause-based shopping platform that empowers people to contribute to social good by earning money for their favorite non-profit organizations through everyday shopping. With over 500 top retailers participating in this cause-conscious loyalty program, SocialVest users are able to make purchase decisions that allow them to raise & give money to any of the million plus registered non-profit organizations of their choice. SocialVest offers participating retailers an authentic engagement tool with one-to-one consumer connections ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Sensitive ceramics for soft robotics

Trends in hospitalizations and liver transplants associated with alcohol-induced liver disease

Spinal cord stimulation vs medical management for chronic back and leg pain

Engineered receptors help the immune system home in on cancer

How conflicting memories of sex and starvation compete to drive behavior

Scientists discover ‘entirely unanticipated’ role of protein netrin1 in spinal cord development

Novel SOURCE study examining development of early COPD in ages 30 to 55

NRL completes development of robotics capable of servicing satellites, enabling resilience for the U.S. space infrastructure

Clinical trial shows positive results for potential treatment to combat a challenging rare disease

New research shows relationship between heart shape and risk of cardiovascular disease

Increase in crisis coverage, but not the number of crisis news events

New study provides first evidence of African children with severe malaria experiencing partial resistance to world’s most powerful malaria drug

Texting abbreviations makes senders seem insincere, study finds

Living microbes discovered in Earth’s driest desert

Artemisinin partial resistance in Ugandan children with complicated malaria

When is a hole not a hole? Researchers investigate the mystery of 'latent pores'

ETRI, demonstration of 8-photon qubit chip for quantum computation

Remote telemedicine tool found highly accurate in diagnosing melanoma

New roles in infectious process for molecule that inhibits flu

Transforming anion exchange membranes in water electrolysis for green hydrogen production

AI method can spot potential disease faster, better than humans

A development by Graz University of Technology makes concreting more reliable, safer and more economical

Pinpointing hydrogen isotopes in titanium hydride nanofilms

Political abuse on X is a global, widespread, and cross-partisan phenomenon, suggests new study

Reintroduction of resistant frogs facilitates landscape-scale recovery in the presence of a lethal fungal disease

Scientists compile library for evaluating exoplanet water

Updated first aid guidelines enhance care for opioid overdose, bleeding, other emergencies

Revolutionizing biology education: Scientists film ‘giant’ mimivirus in action

Genetic variation enhances cancer drug sensitivity

Protective genetic mutation offers new hope for understanding autism and brain development

[Press-News.org] LiXEdrom: Innovative measuring chamber for X-ray study of liquid jets