|
Newsletter=========================================================== CLS-News Vol. 1 No. 5 April 8, 2002 www.lightsource.ca University of Saskatchewan, Canada ==================================================================== 1- Synchrotron short course at GAC-MAC
2002 *************************************************************************** 1- Synchrotron short course at GAC-MAC 2002 (Contact: Grant Henderson henders@geology.utoronto.ca ) A short course on “Synchrotron Radiation: Earth, Environmental and Materials Sciences applications”, will be given prior to the upcoming Geological Association of Canada (GAC) and Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) annual meeting to be held in Saskatoon May 27-29. The short course will be held on Saturday May 25 and Sunday May 26. Topics to be covered include overviews of synchrotron radiation, synchrotron sources and the CLS, as well as more specific applications such as the X-ray microprobe, XPS, EXAFS/XANES, single crystal and powder diffraction, and environmental applications and surface techniques. Some of the lecturers will go through the reduction and analysis of real raw data with the audience (where appropriate). A tour of the CLS is scheduled for Monday May 27 and a symposium on “Applications of synchrotron light sources to the Earth sciences” will also be held during the GAC-MAC meeting. For those interested in attending the short course, registration is limited to 80 participants on a first come first served basis. Registration can be completed online at http://www.usask.ca/geology/sask2002/eng/index.html The registration fee is $275 (Can) and $150 (Can) for students. Any enquiries about the shortcourse should be directed to Grant Henderson, University of Toronto at henders@geology.utoronto.ca or visit the web site of Saskatoon 2002 at http://www.usask.ca/geology/sask2002/ *************************************************************************** 2- Booster ring progress (Contact: lucas.smith@lightsource.ca ) Cooling water and electrical services for the booster were completed. Danfysik commissioned the Booster power supplies. The RF system is currently being completed and commissioned. Danfysik has four people on-site. The remaining extraction magnet and power supply arrived and are being installed. *************************************************************************** 3- Storage Ring progress (Contact: Dan.lowe@lightsource.ca ) 12 of the 24 Dipole Magnets have been received from Tesla. FMB has delivered the first prototype of the Vacuum Chamber. Design and construction of the remaining systems is progressing. *************************************************************************** 4- Commissioning Update (Contact: Mark.Silzer@lightsource.ca ) Commissioning continued through the month of February, and concluded in early March. Extensive work was done at producing a stable, reproducible beam that would be suitable for injection into the booster. A high quality, 265 MeV, 70 mA beam was transported to the last beam dump on the basement level. With this beam, extensive measurements were performed to verify the safety of the shielding. Valuable operational experience on the Linac-to-booster-transfer-line (LTB) optics system was acquired during additional beam studies. Further commissioning of the LTB will resume in mid April, to transport the beam to the booster injection point. *************************************************************************** 5- Cogema- CLSI partnership (Contact: jeffrey.cutler@lightsource.ca ) CLSI and COGEMA Resources are co-funding a research associate for one year to use the research capabilities of the synchrotron to aid in the discovery of the stability of arsenic compounds in mine tailings over the long-term. The potential for this chemical to leach out into the environment is an issue of concern in the McClean Lake area.. This partnership serves as an example of one of many potential future partnerships between industry and synchrotron technology. For the full story please go to http://www.cri.ca/publications/sept_01communique/synchrotron.html *************************************************************************** 6- Notes from the UAC- 5th Annual Users’ Meeting (Contact: stephen.urquhart@usask.ca ) The UAC has begun to organize the 5th Annual Users' Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, November 16, 2002 on the University of Saskatchewan campus. The target audience of this meeting is the future users of the Canadian Light Source, from all branches of the scientific community: academia, industry and government. We hope to repeat the success of the 4th Annual Users' Meeting with a series of focused scientific workshops and presentations. Please let the UAC know what you would like to see at your users' meeting. Please mark your calendar now, and see you in November! *************************************************************************** 7- CFI Grant for IT Infrastructure awarded to U. of S. (Contact: rick.bunt@usask.ca ) The Canada Foundation for Innovation has awarded $4.8 million to the University of Saskatchewan to develop its campus computer network, to give researchers in all fields the increased capacity and high reliability required of contemporary applications. Led by Rick Bunt, Associate Vice-President of Information & Communications Technology, the network will enable researchers to handle high volumes of data and collaborate more easily with colleagues around the world. "This is very good news for CLS users from across the country and indeed throughout the world, whose requirements for high-speed reliable transmission of very large volumes of data were an important element of our proposal," Bunt says. For more information please go to: http://www.usask.ca/communications/ocn/march1-02/news2.shtml *************************************************************************** 8- New and returning employees (Contact: Lavina Carter: 657-3523 ) We’d like to welcome back Stephanie Collins, receptionist. After a one-year leave of absence to enjoy her beautiful new daughter Melodie, Stephanie is once again at her post, making everyone feel welcome upon entering our facility! We’d also like to welcome Karen Craig, Accounting Assistant and Chris Angel, Systems Analyst, to the CLS team. *************************************************************************** 9- Science Highlight- Report on U. of S. Synchrotron Life Sciences Applications workshop (Contact: Emil.hallin@cls.usask.ca ) A workshop aimed at introducing University of Saskatchewan researchers to applications of the synchrotron in the life sciences was held on the 22nd and 23rd of March. The 130+ attendees heard a wide range of presentations both from local researchers and from invited speakers. InfraRed: Lisa Miller (NSLS, Brookhaven) presented some of her research in diseases such as osteoporosis, Alzheimer=s, scrapie and cancer using synchrotron based InfraRed spectromicroscopy. IR spectromicroscopy will have a role in the development of our understanding of these diseases at the cellular level; the hope is that increased understanding of the disease will eventually result in better prognoses for its victims. Lisa concluded her talk with an example of applied research in which IR beamlines were used to study the efficacy of human hair treatments in combating the effects of bleaching. Tim May (CLS) described the IR research tools that will be available to CLS users in 2004, including both the mid IR spectromicroscopy line and the high resolution Far IR spectroscopy line. David Wetzel (KSU) gave an historical overview of IR spectromicroscopy, and demonstrated its use in his research with corn. His talk covered a breadth of other applications on IR in investigations of plant physiology, and he also discussed the long history of Canadian involvement in synchrotron IR work. Bernard Juurlink (U of S) described his “neophyte” view of SR based IR work. He encouraged people to become SR users, both by relating his personal experience in getting involved with the Canadian community and by relating his contribution to an ongoing program at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. A round table discussion was held; questions from the audience were very encouraging as they indicated a clear interest in “getting involved” with SR based IR research. Soft X-rays: Pupa De Stasio (SRC, Wisconsin) is using her PhotoEmission Electron Microscope for “proof-of-principle” research aimed at a possible new therapy for inoperable brain tumours, called Gadolinium neutron capture therapy. This therapy relies on a combination of preferential uptake of Gadolinium by tumours and its concentration near the cell nuclei. The whole patient is then bombarded with a dose of thermal neutrons. When thermal neutrons are captured on a Gd nucleus, electrons are emitted. These electrons have a high probability of creating two-strand damage to the DNA in their immediate vicinity. When cells are killed by destroying their DNA, their death is “clean” in the sense that normal body repair mechanisms suffice to remove the dead tumour cells. Ron Martin (UWO) discussed synchrotron based analysis of trace element distributions in tree rings and how those distributions can be used to learn about tree physiology and the relative efficiencies with which different chemical species pass through, or are stored in, the various parts of trees. Working from the tree down through the roots and into analyses of trace elements in soils, he presented a holistic view of the ecosystem and how synchrotron analysis can help to understand each component better. He also discussed earthworms and their effects on trace metal concentrations in the soil. Hard X-rays: Helen Nichol (U of S) showed how important chemically specific quantitative analysis is in understanding the role that iron and its accumulation in mitochondria and yeast has to play in the development of a number of human diseases. It is important to understand not only the fact of the iron uptake, but its chemical form as well. XAFS is the technique she is using in her investigations. Louis Delbaere (U of S) showed that detailed protein structure information, besides being useful in its own right, is essential to understanding enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Specifically, structure information can help to characterize active site residues and substrate binding; it gives insight into reaction mechanisms and the generation of structural mutation. All of this is crucial to drug design, for example. Michele Loewen (NRC, Saskatoon) gave a presentation on the importance of synchrotron radiation in structure determination for membrane proteins. These proteins are difficult to crystalize; the solution is to study them in something similar to their native environment. These studies require the extremely high brilliance photon beams that can only be produced at third generation rings with insertion device source points. David Sanders (U of S, Biomolecular Structure Research and Teaching Program) discussed uses of protein crystallography in designing new types of antibiotics to combat the so-called “super bugs” that are becoming more common. This application also requires extremely brilliant photon beams, which will be available at the CLS in the first round of beamlines. Ernst Bergmann (U of A, Alberta Synchrotron Institute) talked about applications of protein crystallography to structural genomics programs. He discussed an ASI initiative to secure access to beamtime for Canadian crystallographers at Stanford and at the ALS. He also emphasized the robotics that would be an essential part of a systematic genomics program based at a synchrotron, and discussed the ASI initiative aimed at making this technology easily available to the CLS. Pawel Grochulski (U of S, CLS) discussed the plans for the Canadian Macromolecular Crystallography Facility. He showed detailed layouts for the first beamline and discussed the requirements for the second round protein crystallography line. ==================================================================== CLS-News is an electronic newsletter designed to keep users informed about developments at the Canadian Light Source, the national synchrotron user facility located at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK. The current and past issues of CLS-News are available on the CLS web site: http://www.lightsource.ca/enews/archives.php To unsubscribe please go to http://www.lightsource.ca/enews/signup.php . We welcome suggestions for topics and content.
To translate this document we suggest you go to http://world.altavista.com/ =========================================================== Last modified: 2008-07-29 14:07:29 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Site Map | Links | Webmaster | Disclaimer | Add Site to Favorites | Text Only Version |