ALBERT

Description: A new concept for temporal gating of synchrotron X‐ray pulses based on laser‐induced thermal transient gratings is presented. First experimental tests of the concept yield a diffraction efficiency of 0.18%; however, the calculations indicate a theoretical efficiency and contrast of 〉30% and 10−5, respectively. The full efficiency of the pulse picker has not been reached yet due to a long‐range thermal deformation of the sample after absorption of the excitation laser. This method can be implemented in a broad spectral range (100 eV to 20 keV) and is only minimally invasive to an existing setup.

Description: A new concept for temporal gating of synchrotron X‐ray pulses based on laser‐induced thermal transient gratings is presented.

Description: The high‐precision X‐ray diffraction setup for work with diamond anvil cells (DACs) in interaction chamber 2 (IC2) of the High Energy Density instrument of the European X‐ray Free‐Electron Laser is described. This includes beamline optics, sample positioning and detector systems located in the multipurpose vacuum chamber. Concepts for pump–probe X‐ray diffraction experiments in the DAC are described and their implementation demonstrated during the First User Community Assisted Commissioning experiment. X‐ray heating and diffraction of Bi under pressure, obtained using 20 fs X‐ray pulses at 17.8 keV and 2.2 MHz repetition, is illustrated through splitting of diffraction peaks, and interpreted employing finite element modeling of the sample chamber in the DAC.

Description: The high‐precision X‐ray diffraction (XRD) setup for work with diamond anvil cells (DACs) in Interaction Chamber 2 of the High Energy Density (HED) instrument of the European X‐ray Free‐Electron Laser is described. image

Description: Scientific tasks aimed at decoding and characterizing complex systems and processes at high pressures set new challenges for modern X‐ray diffraction instrumentation in terms of X‐ray flux, focal spot size and sample positioning. Presented here are new developments at the Extreme Conditions beamline (P02.2, PETRA III, DESY, Germany) that enable considerable improvements in data collection at very high pressures and small scattering volumes. In particular, the focusing of the X‐ray beam to the sub‐micrometer level is described, and control of the aberrations of the focusing compound refractive lenses is made possible with the implementation of a correcting phase plate. This device provides a significant enhancement of the signal‐to‐noise ratio by conditioning the beam shape profile at the focal spot. A new sample alignment system with a small sphere of confusion enables single‐crystal data collection from grains of micrometer to sub‐micrometer dimensions subjected to pressures as high as 200 GPa. The combination of the technical development of the optical path and the sample alignment system contributes to research and gives benefits on various levels, including rapid and accurate diffraction mapping of samples with sub‐micrometer resolution at multimegabar pressures.

Description: Facing the challenges of X‐ray diffraction from tiny samples subjected to multimegabar pressures, instrumentation developments are presented that enable, among other studies, single‐crystal data collection from micrometer‐ to sub‐micrometer‐sized grains. The developments are based on a sub‐micrometer beam capability employing compound refractive lenses operating with a phase correcting plate and a precise motorization solution.

Description: The small‐angle neutron scattering data of nanostructured magnetic samples contain information regarding their chemical and magnetic properties. Often, the first step to access characteristic magnetic and structural length scales is a model‐free investigation. However, due to measurement uncertainties and a restricted q range, a direct Fourier transform usually fails and results in ambiguous distributions. To circumvent these problems, different methods have been introduced to derive regularized, more stable correlation functions, with the indirect Fourier transform being the most prominent approach. Here, the indirect Fourier transform is compared with the singular value decomposition and an iterative algorithm. These approaches are used to determine the correlation function from magnetic small‐angle neutron scattering data of a powder sample of iron oxide nanoparticles; it is shown that with all three methods, in principle, the same correlation function can be derived. Each method has certain advantages and disadvantages, and thus the recommendation is to combine these three approaches to obtain robust results.

Description: Three different approaches are compared for determination of the correlation function from the small‐angle neutron scattering data of a powder sample of iron oxide nanoparticles.

Description: The climate record obtained from two long Greenland ice cores reveals several brief climate oscillations during glacial time. The most recent of these oscillations, also found in continental pollen records, has greatest impact in the area under the meteorological influence of the northern Atlantic, but none in the United States. This suggests that these oscillations are caused by fluctuations in the formation rate of deep water in the northern Atlantic. As the present production of deep water in this area is driven by an excess of evaporation over precipitation and continental runoff, atmospheric water transport may be an important element in climate change. Changes in the production rate of deep water in this sector of the ocean may push the climate system from one quasi-stable mode of operation to another.

Description: While thousands of environmental metagenomes have been mined for the presence of novel biosynthetic gene clusters, such computational predictions do not provide evidence of their in vivo biosynthetic functionality. Using fluorescent in situ enzyme assay targeting carrier proteins common to polyketide (PKS) and nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), we applied fluorescence-activated cell sorting to tunicate microbiome to enrich for microbes with active secondary metabolic capabilities. Single-cell genomics uncovered the genetic basis for a wide biosynthetic diversity in the enzyme-active cells and revealed a member of marine Oceanospirillales harboring a novel NRPS gene cluster with high similarity to phylogenetically distant marine and terrestrial bacteria. Interestingly, this synthase belongs to a larger class of siderophore biosynthetic gene clusters commonly associated with pestilence and disease. This demonstrates activity-guided single-cell genomics as a tool to guide novel biosynthetic discovery.

Description: The ATSAS software suite encompasses a number of programs for the processing, visualization, analysis and modelling of small‐angle scattering data, with a focus on the data measured from biological macromolecules. Here, new developments in the ATSAS 3.0 package are described. They include IMSIM, for simulating isotropic 2D scattering patterns; IMOP, to perform operations on 2D images and masks; DATRESAMPLE, a method for variance estimation of structural invariants through parametric resampling; DATFT, which computes the pair distance distribution function by a direct Fourier transform of the scattering data; PDDFFIT, to compute the scattering data from a pair distance distribution function, allowing comparison with the experimental data; a new module in DATMW for Bayesian consensus‐based concentration‐independent molecular weight estimation; DATMIF, an ab initio shape analysis method that optimizes the search model directly against the scattering data; DAMEMB, an application to set up the initial search volume for multiphase modelling of membrane proteins; ELLLIP, to perform quasi‐atomistic modelling of liposomes with elliptical shapes; NMATOR, which models conformational changes in nucleic acid structures through normal mode analysis in torsion angle space; DAMMIX, which reconstructs the shape of an unknown intermediate in an evolving system; and LIPMIX and BILMIX, for modelling multilamellar and asymmetric lipid vesicles, respectively. In addition, technical updates were deployed to facilitate maintainability of the package, which include porting the PRIMUS graphical interface to Qt5, updating SASpy – a PyMOL plugin to run a subset of ATSAS tools – to be both Python 2 and 3 compatible, and adding utilities to facilitate mmCIF compatibility in future ATSAS releases. All these features are implemented in ATSAS 3.0, freely available for academic users at https://www.embl‐hamburg.de/biosaxs/software.html.

Description: ATSAS is a comprehensive software suite for the processing, visualization, analysis and modelling of small‐angle scattering data. This article describes developments in the ATSAS 3.0 release, including new programs for data simulation and for the structural modelling of lipids, nucleic acids and polydisperse systems. image

Description: Mixed ionic electronic conducting ceramics Nd6−yWO12−δ (δ is the oxygen deficiency) provide excellent stability in harsh environments containing strongly reactive gases such as CO2, CO, H2, H2O or H2S. Due to this chemical stability, they are promising and cost‐efficient candidate materials for gas separation, catalytic membrane reactors and protonic ceramic fuel cell technologies. As in La6−yWO12−δ, the ionic/electronic transport mechanism in Nd6−yWO12−δ is expected to be largely controlled by the crystal structure, the conclusive determination of which is still lacking. This work presents a crystallographic study of Nd5.8WO12−δ and molybdenum‐substituted Nd5.7W0.75Mo0.25O12−δ prepared by the citrate complexation route. High‐resolution synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction data were used in combined Rietveld refinements to unravel the crystal structure of Nd5.8WO12−δ and Nd5.7W0.75Mo0.25O12−δ. Both investigated samples crystallize in a defect fluorite crystal structure with space group Fm3m and doubled unit‐cell parameter due to cation ordering. Mo replaces W at both Wyckoff sites 4a and 48h and is evenly distributed, in contrast with La6−yWO12−δ. X‐ray absorption spectroscopy as a function of partial pressure pO2 in the near‐edge regions excludes oxidation state changes of Nd (Nd3+) and W (W6+) in reducing conditions: the enhanced hydrogen permeation, i.e. ambipolar conduction, observed in Mo‐substituted Nd6−yWO12−δ is therefore explained by the higher Mo reducibility and the creation of additional – disordered – oxygen vacancies.

Description: The crystal structures of non‐substituted and Mo‐substituted neodymium tungstates are described in detail through neutron diffraction and high‐resolution X‐ray diffraction. Combined X‐ray and neutron diffraction refinements and electron probe micro‐analysis were employed to locate Mo atoms in the crystal structure of Nd6−yW1−zMozO12−δ (z = 0, 0.25), while X‐ray absorption spectroscopy in the near‐edge regions confirmed no changes in the oxidation states of Nd and W.

Description: Santorini volcanic field has had 12 major (1–10 km3 or more of magma), and numerous minor, explosive eruptions over the last ~ 200 ka. Deposits from these eruptions (Thera Pyroclastic Formation) are well exposed in caldera-wall successions up to 200 m thick. Each of the major eruptions began with a pumice-fall phase, and most culminated with emplacement of pyroclastic flows. Pyroclastic flows of at least six eruptions deposited proximal lag deposits exposed widely in the caldera wall. The lag deposits include coarse-grained lithic breccias (andesitic to rhyodacitic eruptions) and spatter agglomerates (andesitic eruptions only). Facies associations between lithic breccia, spatter agglomerate, and ignimbrite from the same eruption can be very complex. For some eruptions, lag deposits provide the only evidence for pyroclastic flows, because most of the ignimbrite is buried on the lower flanks of Santorini or under the sea. At least eight eruptions tapped compositionally heterogeneous magma chambers, producing deposits with a range of zoning patterns and compositional gaps. Three eruptions display a silicic–silicic + mafic–silicic zoning not previously reported. Four eruptions vented large volumes of dacitic or rhyodacitic pumice, and may account for 90% or more of all silicic magma discharged from Santorini. The Thera Pyroclastic Formation and coeval lavas record two major mafic-to-silicic cycles of Santorini volcanism. Each cycle commenced with explosive eruptions of andesite or dacite, accompanied by construction of composite shields and stratocones, and culminated in a pair of major dacitic or rhyodacitic eruptions. Sequences of scoria and ash deposits occur between most of the twelve major members and record repeated stratocone or shield construction following a large explosive eruption. Volcanism at Santorini has focussed on a deep NE–SW basement fracture, which has acted as a pathway for magma ascent. At least four major explosive eruptions began at a vent complex on this fracture. Composite volcanoes constructed north of the fracture were dissected by at least three caldera-collapse events associated with the pyroclastic eruptions. Southern Santorini consists of pryoclastic ejecta draped over a pre-volcanic island and a ridge of early- to mid-Pleistocene volcanics. The southern half of the present-day caldera basin is a long-lived, essentially non-volcanic, depression, defined by topographic highs to the south and east, but deepened by subsidence associated with the main northern caldera complex, and is probably not a separate caldera.