| 1. |
- Ruilope, LM, et al.
(author)
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Design and Baseline Characteristics of the Finerenone in Reducing Cardiovascular Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease Trial
- 2019
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In: American journal of nephrology. - : S. Karger AG. - 1421-9670 .- 0250-8095. ; 50:5, s. 345-356
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- <b><i>Background:</i></b> Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. <b><i>Patients and</i></b> <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥25 mL/min/1.73 m<sup>2</sup> and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥30 to ≤5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level α = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049.
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| 2. |
- Barty, A., et al.
(author)
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Self-terminating diffraction gates femtosecond X-ray nanocrystallography measurements
- 2012
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In: Nature Photonics. - 1749-4885 .- 1749-4893. ; 6:1, s. 35-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray free-electron lasers have enabled new approaches to the structural determination of protein crystals that are too small or radiation-sensitive for conventional analysis1. For sufficiently short pulses, diffraction is collected before significant changes occur to the sample, and it has been predicted that pulses as short as 10 fs may be required to acquire atomic-resolution structural information1, 2, 3, 4. Here, we describe a mechanism unique to ultrafast, ultra-intense X-ray experiments that allows structural information to be collected from crystalline samples using high radiation doses without the requirement for the pulse to terminate before the onset of sample damage. Instead, the diffracted X-rays are gated by a rapid loss of crystalline periodicity, producing apparent pulse lengths significantly shorter than the duration of the incident pulse. The shortest apparent pulse lengths occur at the highest resolution, and our measurements indicate that current X-ray free-electron laser technology5 should enable structural determination from submicrometre protein crystals with atomic resolution.
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| 3. |
- Duane Loh, N., et al.
(author)
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Profiling structured beams using injected aerosols
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 9780819492210 ; , s. 850403-
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Profiling structured beams produced by X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) is crucial to both maximizing signal intensity for weakly scattering targets and interpreting their scattering patterns. Earlier ablative imprint studies describe how to infer the X-ray beam profile from the damage that an attenuated beam inflicts on a substrate. However, the beams in-situ profile is not directly accessible with imprint studies because the damage profile could be different from the actual beam profile. On the other hand, although a Shack-Hartmann sensor is capable of in-situ profiling, its lenses may be quickly damaged at the intense focus of hard X-ray FEL beams. We describe a new approach that probes the in-situ morphology of the intense FEL focus. By studying the translations in diffraction patterns from an ensemble of randomly injected sub-micron latex spheres, we were able to determine the non-Gaussian nature of the intense FEL beam at the Linac Coherent Light Source (SLAC National Laboratory) near the FEL focus. We discuss an experimental application of such a beam-profiling technique, and the limitations we need to overcome before it can be widely applied.
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| 4. |
- Loh, N. D., et al.
(author)
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Fractal morphology, imaging and mass spectrometry of single aerosol particles in flight
- 2012
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 486:7404, s. 513-517
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The morphology of micrometre-size particulate matter is of critical importance in fields ranging from toxicology(1) to climate science(2), yet these properties are surprisingly difficult to measure in the particles' native environment. Electron microscopy requires collection of particles on a substrate(3); visible light scattering provides insufficient resolution(4); and X-ray synchrotron studies have been limited to ensembles of particles(5). Here we demonstrate an in situ method for imaging individual sub-micrometre particles to nanometre resolution in their native environment, using intense, coherent X-ray pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source(6) free-electron laser. We introduced individual aerosol particles into the pulsed X-ray beam, which is sufficiently intense that diffraction from individual particles can be measured for morphological analysis. At the same time, ion fragments ejected from the beam were analysed using mass spectrometry, to determine the composition of single aerosol particles. Our results show the extent of internal dilation symmetry of individual soot particles subject to non-equilibrium aggregation, and the surprisingly large variability in their fractal dimensions. More broadly, our methods can be extended to resolve both static and dynamic morphology of general ensembles of disordered particles. Such general morphology has implications in topics such as solvent accessibilities in proteins(7), vibrational energy transfer by the hydrodynamic interaction of amino acids(8), and large-scale production of nanoscale structures by flame synthesis(9).
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| 5. |
- Martin, A. V., et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond dark-field imaging with an X-ray free electron laser
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:12, s. 13501-13512
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The emergence of femtosecond diffractive imaging with X-ray lasers has enabled pioneering structural studies of isolated particles, such as viruses, at nanometer length scales. However, the issue of missing low frequency data significantly limits the potential of X-ray lasers to reveal sub-nanometer details of micrometer-sized samples. We have developed a new technique of dark-field coherent diffractive imaging to simultaneously overcome the missing data issue and enable us to harness the unique contrast mechanisms available in dark-field microscopy. Images of airborne particulate matter (soot) up to two microns in length were obtained using single-shot diffraction patterns obtained at the Linac Coherent Light Source, four times the size of objects previously imaged in similar experiments. This technique opens the door to femtosecond diffractive imaging of a wide range of micrometer-sized materials that exhibit irreproducible complexity down to the nanoscale, including airborne particulate matter, small cells, bacteria and gold-labeled biological samples.
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| 6. |
- Martin, A. V., et al.
(author)
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Noise-robust coherent diffractive imaging with a single diffraction pattern
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:15, s. 16650-16661
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The resolution of single-shot coherent diffractive imaging at X-ray free-electron laser facilities is limited by the low signal-to-noise level of diffraction data at high scattering angles. The iterative reconstruction methods, which phase a continuous diffraction pattern to produce an image, must be able to extract information from these weak signals to obtain the best quality images. Here we show how to modify iterative reconstruction methods to improve tolerance to noise. The method is demonstrated with the hybrid input-output method on both simulated data and single-shot diffraction patterns taken at the Linac Coherent Light Source. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America
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| 7. |
- Pedersoli, E., et al.
(author)
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Mesoscale morphology of airborne core-shell nanoparticle clusters : x-ray laser coherent diffraction imaging
- 2013
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In: Journal of Physics B. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 46:16 SI, s. 164033-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unraveling the complex morphology of functional materials like core-shell nanoparticles and its evolution in different environments is still a challenge. Only recently has the single-particle coherent diffraction imaging (CDI), enabled by the ultrabright femtosecond free-electron laser pulses, provided breakthroughs in understanding mesoscopic morphology of nanoparticulate matter. Here, we report the first CDI results for Co@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles randomly clustered in large airborne aggregates, obtained using the x-ray free-electron laser at the Linac Coherent Light Source. Our experimental results compare favourably with simulated diffraction patterns for clustered Co@SiO2 nanoparticles with similar to 10 nm core diameter and similar to 30 nm shell outer diameter, which confirms the ability to resolve the mesoscale morphology of complex metastable structures. The findings in this first morphological study of core-shell nanomaterials are a solid base for future time-resolved studies of dynamic phenomena in complex nanoparticulate matter using x-ray lasers.
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| 8. |
- Rolles, D., et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond x-ray photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase dibromobenzene molecules
- 2014
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In: Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 47:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present time-resolved femtosecond photoelectron momentum images and angular distributions of dissociating, laser-aligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules measured in a near-infrared pump, soft-x-ray probe experiment performed at an x-ray free-electron laser. The observed alignment dependence of the bromine 2p photoelectron angular distributions is compared to density functional theory calculations and interpreted in terms of photoelectron diffraction. While no clear time-dependent effects are observed in the angular distribution of the Br(2p) photoelectrons, other, low-energy electrons show a pronounced dependence on the time delay between the near-infrared laser and the x-ray pulse.
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| 9. |
- Wiedorn, Max O., et al.
(author)
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Megahertz serial crystallography
- 2018
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In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The new European X-ray Free-Electron Laser is the first X-ray free-electron laser capable of delivering X-ray pulses with a megahertz inter-pulse spacing, more than four orders of magnitude higher than previously possible. However, to date, it has been unclear whether it would indeed be possible to measure high-quality diffraction data at megahertz pulse repetition rates. Here, we show that high-quality structures can indeed be obtained using currently available operating conditions at the European XFEL. We present two complete data sets, one from the well-known model system lysozyme and the other from a so far unknown complex of a beta-lactamase from K. pneumoniae involved in antibiotic resistance. This result opens up megahertz serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) as a tool for reliable structure determination, substrate screening and the efficient measurement of the evolution and dynamics of molecular structures using megahertz repetition rate pulses available at this new class of X-ray laser source.
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| 10. |
- Aquila, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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Time-resolved protein nanocrystallography using an X-ray free-electron laser
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:3, s. 2706-2716
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate the use of an X-ray free electron laser synchronized with an optical pump laser to obtain X-ray diffraction snapshots from the photoactivated states of large membrane protein complexes in the form of nanocrystals flowing in a liquid jet. Light-induced changes of Photosystem I-Ferredoxin co-crystals were observed at time delays of 5 to 10 µs after excitation. The result correlates with the microsecond kinetics of electron transfer from Photosystem I to ferredoxin. The undocking process that follows the electron transfer leads to large rearrangements in the crystals that will terminally lead to the disintegration of the crystals. We describe the experimental setup and obtain the first time-resolved femtosecond serial X-ray crystallography results from an irreversible photo-chemical reaction at the Linac Coherent Light Source. This technique opens the door to time-resolved structural studies of reaction dynamics in biological systems.
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