B22-Multimode InfraRed imaging And Microspectroscopy
I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Abstract: Tuffisite veins are glass-filled fractures formed when magma fragments during degassing within the conduit. These veins form transient channels through which exsolved gases can escape from magma. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which chemical heterogeneity within the melt results from gas transport, and assess how this can be used to study magma degassing. Two tuffisite veins from contrasting rhyolitic eruptions at Torfajökull (Iceland) and Chaitén (Chile) were studied in detail. The tuffisite vein from Torfajökull is from a shallow dissected conduit (∼70 ka) that fed a degassed lava flow, while the sample from Chaitén was a bomb ejected during the waning phases of Plinian activity in May 2008. The results of detailed in situ chemical analyses (synchrotron XRF, FTIR, LA-ICP-MS) show that in both veins larger vesiculated fragments are enriched in volatile elements (Torfajökull: H, Li, Cl; Chaitén: Li, Cl, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Sb) compared to the host, while the surrounding smaller particles are depleted in the Torfajökull vein (Li, Cl, Zn, Br, Rb, Pb), but enriched in the Chaitén vein (K, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Sb, Pb). The lifespans of both veins and the fluxes of gas and particles through them can be estimated using diffusion profiles and enrichment factors. The Torfajökull vein had a longer lifespan (∼a day) and low particle velocities (∼cm/s), while the Chaitén vein was shorter lived (<1 h) with a high gas velocity (∼m/s). These differences are consistent with the contrasting eruption mechanisms (effusive vs. explosive). The amount of magma that degassed through the Chaitén vein is more than ten times the volume of the vein itself, requiring the vein to tap into pre-exsolved gas pockets. This study highlights that tuffisite veins are highly efficient gas pathways and thereby impart chemical diversity in volatile elements on the melt.
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Aug 2013
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[8487]
Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and ovarian cancer is the 8th
most common cancer affecting women worldwide. This study highlights the changes
of trace element levels accompanied by the progression from ductal carcinoma in situ
(DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast, using micro probe
Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Fluorescence (µSRXRF). The average values for the
increase in Ca, Fe and Zn in tumour regions with respect to surrounding regions for
the DCIS samples were significantly higher compared to the increase in the IDC
samples (P <0.01).This study was also carried out to find a connection between
ovarian cancer and breast cancer with respect to the cellular distribution of Ca, Cu, Fe,
and Zn. For IDC, DCIS and ovarian cases, the statistical analysis reveals a significant
increase in the levels of Ca, Cu and Zn concentrations in cancer tissue when compared
to the normal surrounding tissue. For Fe, the differences between tumour regions with
respect to surrounding regions were found to be not significant in IDC and ovarian
cases. In DCIS cases, the results reveal a significant increase in the levels of Fe in
cancer tissue when compared to the surrounding normal breast tissue (P <0.01).
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Apr 2014
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[20603]
Open Access
Abstract: Protein-based hybrid nanomaterials have recently emerged as promising platforms to fabricate tailored multifunctional biologics for biotechnological and biomedical applications. This work shows a simple, modular, and versatile strategy to design custom protein hybrid nanomaterials. This approach combines for the first time the engineering of a therapeutic protein module with the engineering of a nanomaterial-stabilizing module within the same molecule, resulting in a multifunctional hybrid nanocomposite unachievable through conventional material synthesis methodologies. As the first proof of concept, a multifunctional system was designed ad hoc for the therapeutic intervention and monitoring of myocardial fibrosis. This hybrid nanomaterial combines a designed Hsp90 inhibitory domain and a metal nanocluster stabilizing module resulting in a biologic drug labelled with a metal nanocluster. The engineered nanomaterial actively reduced myocardial fibrosis and heart hypertrophy in an animal model of cardiac remodeling. In addition to the therapeutic effect, the metal nanocluster allowed for in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo detection and imaging of the fibrotic disease under study. This study evidences the potential of combining protein engineering and protein-directed nanomaterial engineering approaches to design custom nanomaterials as theranostic tools, opening up unexplored routes to date for the next generation of advanced nanomaterials in medicine.
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Dec 2020
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[7418, 8377]
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Apr 2013
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[12879, 24642]
Open Access
Abstract: Biometals such as iron, copper, potassium, and zinc are essential regulatory elements of several biological processes. The homeostasis of biometals is often affected in age-related pathologies. Notably, impaired iron metabolism has been linked to several neurodegenerative disorders. Autophagy, an intracellular degradative process dependent on the lysosomes, is involved in the regulation of ferritin and iron levels. Impaired autophagy has been associated with normal pathological aging, and neurodegeneration. Non-mammalian model organisms such as Drosophila have proven to be appropriate for the investigation of age-related pathologies. Here, we show that ferritin is expressed in adult Drosophila brain and that iron and holoferritin accumulate with aging. At whole-brain level we found no direct relationship between the accumulation of holoferritin and a deficit in autophagy in aged Drosophila brain. However, synchrotron X-ray spectromicroscopy revealed an additional spectral feature in the iron-richest region of autophagy-deficient fly brains, consistent with iron–sulfur. This potentially arises from iron–sulfur clusters associated with altered mitochondrial iron homeostasis.
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Jul 2019
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[7254]
Open Access
Abstract: In this work, the effects of the protozoan Neospora caninum on the bioenergetics, chemical composition, and elemental content of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMECs) were investigated. We showed that N. caninum can impair cell mitochondrial (Mt) function and causes an arrest in host cell cycling at S and G2 phases. These adverse effects were also associated with altered expression of genes involved in Mt energy metabolism, suggesting Mt dysfunction caused by N. caninum infection. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis of hBMECs revealed alterations in the FTIR bands as a function of infection, where infected cells showed alterations in the absorption bands of lipid (2924 cm−1), amide I protein (1649 cm−1), amide II protein (1537 cm−1), nucleic acids and carbohydrates (1092 cm−1, 1047 cm−1, and 939 cm−1). By using quantitative synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (μSR-XRF) imaging and quantification of the trace elements Zn, Cu and Fe, we detected an increase in the levels of Zn and Cu from 3 to 24 h post infection (hpi) in infected cells compared to control cells, but there were no changes in the level of Fe. We also used Affymetrix array technology to investigate the global alteration in gene expression of hBMECs and rat brain microvascular endothelial cells (rBMVECs) in response to N. caninum infection at 24 hpi. The result of transcriptome profiling identified differentially expressed genes involved mainly in immune response, lipid metabolism and apoptosis. These data further our understanding of the molecular events that shape the interaction between N. caninum and blood-brain-barrier endothelial cells.
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Aug 2020
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Alexander
Morrell
,
J. Frederick W.
Mosselmans
,
Kalotina
Geraki
,
Konstantin
Ignatyev
,
Hiram
Castillo-michel
,
Peter
Monksfield
,
Adrian T.
Warfield
,
Maria
Febbraio
,
Helen M.
Roberts
,
Owen
Addison
,
Richard A.
Martin
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16458]
Abstract: Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence microscopy is frequently used to investigate the spatial distribution of elements within a wide range of samples. Interrogation of heterogeneous samples that contain large concentration ranges has the potential to produce image artefacts due to the profile of the X-ray beam. The presence of these artefacts and the distribution of flux within the beam profile can significantly affect qualitative and quantitative analyses. Two distinct correction methods have been generated by referencing the beam profile itself or by employing an adaptive-thresholding procedure. Both methods significantly improve qualitative imaging by removing the artefacts without compromising the low-intensity features. The beam-profile correction method improves quantitative results but requires accurate two-dimensional characterization of the X-ray beam profile.
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Nov 2018
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[11043]
Open Access
Abstract: Heterogeneous catalysis performed in the liquid phase is an important type of catalytic process which is rarely studied in situ. Using microfocus X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction computed tomography (μ-XRF-CT, μ-XRD-CT) in combination with X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), we have determined the active state of a Mo-promoted Pt/C catalyst (NanoSelect) for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene under standard operating conditions. First, μ-XRF-CT and μ-XRD-CT reveal the active state of Pt catalyst to be reduced, noncrystalline, and evenly dispersed across the support surface. Second, imaging of the Pt and Mo distribution reveals they are highly stable on the support and not prone to leaching during the reaction. This study demonstrates the ability of chemical computed tomography to image the nature and spatial distribution of catalysts under reaction conditions.
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Jul 2015
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I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[11043]
Abstract: Heterogeneous catalysis performed in the liquidphase is an important type of catalytic process whichisrarelystudied in situ. Using microfocus X-ray fluorescence and X-raydiffraction computed tomography (m-XRF-CT, m-XRD-CT) incombination with X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy(XANES), we have determined the active state of aMo-promoted Pt/C catalyst (NanoSelect) for the liquid-phasehydrogenation of nitrobenzene under standardoperatingconditions.First, m-XRF-CT and m-XRD-CT reveal the activestate of Pt catalyst to be reduced, noncrystalline,and evenlydispersed across the support surface.Second, imaging of the Ptand Mo distribution reveals they are highly stable on thesupport and not prone to leaching during the reaction. Thisstudy demonstrates the ability of chemical computed tomog-raphy to image the nature and spatial distribution of catalystsunder reaction conditions.
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Aug 2015
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B16-Test Beamline
I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[11372, 12446]
Abstract: Aging leads to an increase in iron-loaded cellular structures in the choroid of the eye. This study was carried out to determine the distribution and content of iron, zinc and copper in the macular retina, choroid and retrobulbar optic nerve of young (4-5 years, n=3) and aged (15-16 years, n=5) male non-human primates, Macaca fascicularis, whose ocular anatomy is similar to humans. Thirty-µm-thick tissue sections were analysed with synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and stained histologically for iron deposition. Quantitative measurements showed high levels of iron, zinc and copper in the choroid and retinal pigment epithelium in the macular area and arachnoid layer in the retrobulbar optic nerve. In aged animals compared to young ones, there was an increase in iron in the choroid with larger deposits and and iron-loaded cellular structures. Iron-accumulation within these cellular structures may contribute to choroidal function impairment in aging and age-related macular degeneration.
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Aug 2016
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