Events and E-News

Newsletter

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CLS E-News                          Vol. 7  No. 2
www.lightsource.ca            November 30, 2009
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  1. Call for Submissions: 2009 Activity Report
  2. General User Proposal Results: January - June 2010
  3. New from the Business Development Team
  4. Coming soon: the G. Michael Bancroft PhD Thesis award
  5. Fifth Annual CLS Summer School, June 13-18, 2010
  6. Science Highlight
  7. New Staff and Now Hiring
  8. Happy Holidays from all of us at CLS!

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1. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2009 ACTIVITY REPORT
Contact: mailto:activity.report@lightsource.ca

The CLS Activity Report communicates the research and development activity of Canadas national synchrotron facility to the wider scientific community. This edition of the CLS Activity Report will summarize the progress made at the CLS in the areas of scientific research and facility development and operations from January 1 to December 31, 2009.

The key to a successful report is input from our users. All users who conducted research at the CLS during 2009 are invited to submit a short article for the science section of the report. Users wishing to contribute an article should e-mail the editor at the above contact with their intent to submit by Monday, December 14, 2009.

The deadline for submissions is January 25, 2010.

Further information, including submission guidelines and templates are available at http://www.lightsource.ca/uso/activity_report.php
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2. GENERAL USER PROPOSAL RESULTS: JANUARY-JUNE, 2010
Contact: mailto:clsuo@lightsource.ca

CLS held its eighth Peer Review Committee (PRC) meeting on October 30, chaired by Tony Van Buuren (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA). The PRC reviewed general user proposals for beam time requested for the January-June, 2010 period.

Eight beamlines participated in this call, including, for the first time, two Phase II beamlines, VESPERS and SXRMB. 96 new proposals were received, along with 45 beam time requests against existing proposals, for a total of 141.

The PRC rated the new proposals on a scale of one to five, one being the highest score. A cut-off score was assigned if total requests for beam time exceeded the time available on a beamline. Of the 141 proposals received, 91 were awarded beamtime.

To view details on the results please see http://www.lightsource.ca/uso/results_of_call.php
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3. NEW FROM THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Contact: mailto:Royal.Hinther@lightsource.ca

We have been working closely with the CLS Users Advisory Committee (UAC) through its Chair, Dr. Stewart McIntyre, regarding challenges faced by CLS in adequately articulating industry usage rates to government funding partners.

As you may be aware, the CLS is under constant pressure to demonstrate the facilitys value to federal and provincial governments, as well as its relevance to Canadas technological and economic future. The CLS has from its inception been tasked to show direct industrial relevance, from not only a revenue perspective, but from a usage standpoint as well. In an attempt to address this need, the CLS and the UAC are developing a process to collect relevant information, and we will communicate more on this effort soon.

Your assistance will be essential in assisting us to maintain support for this important scientific infrastructure.
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4. COMING SOON: THE G. MICHAEL BANCROFT PhD THESIS AWARD
Contact: mailto:tom.ellis@lightsource.ca

We are pleased to announce that in the New Year we will be unveiling details about a brand new award: the G. Michael Bancroft PhD Thesis Award.

Named after one of the founders of Canadian synchrotron science, this inaugural prize will recognize the best PhD Thesis based on data obtained at CLS, and completed prior to December 31, 2009. Future editions will consider only the previous calendar year. The competition will be open to PhD graduates from any university.

Stay tuned for more information!
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5. FIFTH ANNUAL CLS SUMMER SCHOOL, JUNE 13-18, 2010
Contact: mailto:tracy.walker@lightsource.ca

The fifth annual CLS summer school (S4V) will take place alongside the Annual CLS Users Meeting (AUM) and will focus on life sciences.

This year, for the first time, S4V will offer two concurrent practical sessions including data collection and analysis: one will be dedicated to macromolecular crystallography, and another will include case studies of research conducted using Mid-Infrared, Biomedical Imaging, and microprobe techniques.

The registration costs will include attendance to the AUM and its associated workshops. Registration and detailed information will be available soon.
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6. SCIENCE HIGHLIGHT: CRYSTAL STRUCTURES OF THE N-TERMINAL DOMAINS OF CARDIAC AND SKELETAL MUSCLE RYANODINE RECEPTORS
Contact: mailto:filip.vanpetegem@gmail.com or mailto:petegem@interchange.ubc.ca

Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are channels governing the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum. They are required for the contraction of both skeletal (RyR1) and cardiac (RyR2) muscles. Mutations in both RyR1 and RyR2 have been associated with severe genetic disorders, but high-resolution data describing the disease variants in detail have been lacking. This article presents the crystal structures of the N-terminal domains of bothRyR2 (1217) and RyR1 (9205) at 2.55 angstroms and 2.9 angstroms, respectively. The domains map in a hot spot region for disease mutations. Both structures consist of a core beta trefoil domain flanked by an alpha helix. Crystal structures of two RyR2 disease mutants, A77V (2.2 angstroms) and V186M (1.7 angstroms), show that the mutations cause distinct local changes in the surface of the protein. A RyR2 deletion mutant causes significant changes in the thermal stability. The disease positions highlight two putative binding interfaces required for normal RyR function.

P.A. Lobo, F. Van Petegem. Crystal Structures of the N-Terminal Domains of Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Ryanodine Receptors: Insights into Disease Mutations. Structure 17, 1505-1514, November 11, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2009.08.016
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7. NEW STAFF AND NOW HIRING
Contact: jobs@lightsource.ca

We would like to welcome the following new employees:

Sergey Gorovikov, QMSC Staff ScientistSergey joined us from the ELETTRA Synchrotron in Trieste, Italy, where he worked as a beamline scientist. Sergey has over fifteen years of research experience in the field of surface science and photoemission.

Chris Regier, Mechanical Engineerrecently moved back to Saskatoon from Calgary where he received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary. As part of his PhD thesis, Chris developed a computer simulation of the thermodynamic model of CLS cryogenic RF systems and compared the model to experimental data gained at CLS.

We are also pleased to announce an internal transfer that has taken place recently.

We are currently accepting applications for the following positions:

For the complete postings, please go to: http://www.lightsource.ca/careers/
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8. HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT CLS

From all of us at CLS, our best wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful 2010.
CLS E-News will be back in January!

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CLS E-News is an electronic newsletter designed to keep users and stakeholders informed about developments at the Canadian Light Source, the national synchrotron research facility located at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Current and past issues of CLS E-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. Contact us at mailto:clsi@lightsource.ca ===========================================

Last modified: 2012-01-19 17:01:07