| 1. |
- Birch, Jens, et al.
(author)
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In-beam test of the Boron-10 Multi-Grid neutron detector at the IN6 time-of-flight spectrometer at the ILL
- 2014
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In: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON NEUTRON OPTICS AND DETECTORS (NOPandD 2013). - : IOP Publishing: Conference Series / Institute of Physics (IoP).
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A neutron detector concept based on solid layers of boron carbide enriched in 1 B has been in development for the last few years as an alternative for He-3 by collaboration between the ILL, ESS and Linkoping University. This Multi-Grid detector uses layers of aluminum substrates coated with (B4C)-B-10 on both sides that are traversed by the incoming neutrons. Detection is achieved using a gas counter readout principle. By segmenting the substrate and using multiple anode wires, the detector is made inherently position sensitive. This development is aimed primarily at neutron scattering instruments with large detector areas, such as time-of-flight chopper spectrometers. The most recent prototype has been built to be interchangeable with the He-3 detectors of IN6 at ILL. The 1 B detector has an active area of 32 x 48 cm(2). It was installed at the IN6 instrument and operated for several weeks, collecting data in parallel with the regularly scheduled experiments, thus providing the first side-by-side comparison with the conventional He-3 detectors. Results include an efficiency comparison, assessment of the in-detector scattering contribution, sensitivity to gamma-rays and the signal-to-noise ratio in time-of-flight spectra. The good expected performance has been confirmed with the exception of an unexpected background count rate. This has been identified as natural alpha activity in aluminum. New convertor substrates are under study to eliminate this source of background.
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| 2. |
- Noferini, Daria, 1983, et al.
(author)
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Proton Dynamics in Hydrated BaZr0.9M0.1O2.95 (M = Y and Sc) Investigated with Neutron Spin-Echo
- 2016
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In: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 120:26, s. 13963-13969
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hydrated samples of the two proton conducting perovskites BaZr0.9M0.1O2.95 (M = Y and Sc) were investigated using neutron spin echo spectroscopy together with thermal gravimetric measurements, polarized neutron diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy, with the aim to determine how the atomic scale proton dynamics depend on temperature, and type of dopant atom, M. The results show the presence of pronounced localized proton motions for temperatures above ca. 300 K, characterized by relaxation times on the order of picoseconds to nanoseconds and governed by a wide distribution of activation energies due to a heterogeneous distribution of proton sites present, with no strong dependence on the type of dopant atom.
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| 3. |
- Sillrén, Per, 1982, et al.
(author)
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Liquid 1-propanol studied by neutron scattering, near-infrared, and dielectric spectroscopy
- 2014
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In: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 1089-7690 .- 0021-9606. ; 140:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Liquid monohydroxy alcohols exhibit unusual dynamics related to their hydrogen bonding induced structures. The connection between structure and dynamics is studied for liquid 1-propanol using quasi-elastic neutron scattering, combining time-of-flight and neutron spin-echo techniques, with a focus on the dynamics at length scales corresponding to the main peak and the pre-peak of the structure factor. At the main peak, the structural relaxation times are probed. These correspond well to mechanical relaxation times calculated from literature data. At the pre-peak, corresponding to length scales related to H-bonded structures, the relaxation times are almost an order of magnitude longer. According to previous work [C. Gainaru, R. Meier, S. Schildmann, C. Lederle, W. Hiller, E. Rössler, and R. Böhmer, Phys. Rev. Lett.105, 258303 (2010)] this time scale difference is connected to the average size of H-bonded clusters. The relation between the relaxation times from neutron scattering and those determined from dielectric spectroscopy is discussed on the basis of broad-band permittivity data of 1-propanol. Moreover, in 1-propanol the dielectric relaxation strength as well as the near-infrared absorbance reveal anomalous behavior below ambient temperature. A corresponding feature could not be found in the polyalcohols propylene glycol and glycerol.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, David C., et al.
(author)
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Changes in dynamics of alpha-chymotrypsin due to covalent inhibitors investigated by elastic incoherent neutron scattering
- 2017
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In: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 19:37, s. 25369-25379
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An essential role of enzymes is to catalyze various chemical reactions in the human body and inhibition of the enzymatic activity by small molecules is the mechanism of action of many drugs or tool compounds used to study biological processes. Here, we investigate the effect on the dynamics of the serine protease alpha-chymotrypsin when in complex with two different covalently bound inhibitors using elastic incoherent neutron scattering. The results show that the inhibited enzyme displays enhanced dynamics compared to the free form. The difference was prominent at higher temperatures (240-310 K) and the type of motions that differ include both small amplitude motions, such as hydrogen atom rotations around a methyl group, and large amplitude motions, such as amino acid side chain movements. The measurements were analyzed with multivariate methods in addition to the standard univariate methods, allowing for a more in-depth analysis of the types of motions that differ between the two forms. The binding strength of an inhibitor is linked to the changes in dynamics occurring during the inhibitor-enzyme binding event and thus these results may aid in the deconvolution of this fundamental event and in the design of new inhibitors.
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| 5. |
- Maury, J., et al.
(author)
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EasyCloneMulti: A Set of Vectors for Simultaneous and Multiple Genomic Integrations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- 2016
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203 .- 1932-6203. ; 11:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used in the biotechnology industry for production of ethanol, recombinant proteins, food ingredients and other chemicals. In order to generate highly producing and stable strains, genome integration of genes encoding metabolic pathway enzymes is the preferred option. However, integration of pathway genes in single or few copies, especially those encoding rate-controlling steps, is often not sufficient to sustain high metabolic fluxes. By exploiting the sequence diversity in the long terminal repeats (LTR) of Ty retrotransposons, we developed a new set of integrative vectors, EasyCloneMulti, that enables multiple and simultaneous integration of genes in S. cerevisiae. By creating vector backbones that combine consensus sequences that aim at targeting subsets of Ty sequences and a quickly degrading selective marker, integrations at multiple genomic loci and a range of expression levels were obtained, as assessed with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter system. The EasyCloneMulti vector set was applied to balance the expression of the rate-controlling step in the beta-alanine pathway for biosynthesis of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP). The best 3HP producing clone, with 5.45 g.L-1 of 3HP, produced 11 times more 3HP than the lowest producing clone, which demonstrates the capability of EasyCloneMulti vectors to impact metabolic pathway enzyme activity.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Amundin, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Estimating the abundance of the critically endangered Baltic Proper harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) population using passive acoustic monitoring
- 2022
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In: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 12:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Knowing the abundance of a population is a crucial component to assess its conservationstatus and develop effective conservation plans. For most cetaceans, abundanceestimation is difficult given their cryptic and mobile nature, especially when thepopulation is small and has a transnational distribution. In the Baltic Sea, the numberof harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) has collapsed since the mid-20thcenturyand the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCNand HELCOM; however, its abundance remains unknown. Here, one of the largestever passive acoustic monitoring studies was carried out by eight Baltic Sea nationsto estimate the abundance of the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise for the first time. Bylogging porpoise echolocation signals at 298 stations during May 2011–April2013,calibrating the loggers’ spatial detection performance at sea, and measuring the clickrate of tagged individuals, we estimated an abundance of 71–1105individuals (95% CI,point estimate 491) during May–Octoberwithin the population's proposed managementborder. The small abundance estimate strongly supports that the Baltic Properharbour porpoise is facing an extremely high risk of extinction, and highlights theneed for immediate and efficient conservation actions through international cooperation.It also provides a starting point in monitoring the trend of the populationabundance to evaluate the effectiveness of management measures and determine itsinteractions with the larger neighboring Belt Sea population. Further, we offer evidencethat design-basedpassive acoustic monitoring can generate reliable estimatesof the abundance of rare and cryptic animal populations across large spatial scales.
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| 9. |
- Andersson, C. David, 1978-, et al.
(author)
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Influence of Enantiomeric Inhibitors on the Dynamics of Acetylcholinesterase Measured by Elastic Incoherent Neutron Scattering
- 2018
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In: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 122:36, s. 8516-8525
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is essential in humans and animals because it catalyzes the breakdown of the nerve-signaling substance acetylcholine. Small molecules that inhibit the function of AChE are important for their use as drugs in the, for example, symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. New and improved inhibitors are warranted, mainly because of severe side effects of current drugs. In the present study, we have investigated if and how two enantiomeric inhibitors of AChE influence the overall dynamics of noncovalent complexes, using elastic incoherent neutron scattering. A fruitful combination of univariate models, including a newly developed non-Gaussian model for atomic fluctuations, and multivariate methods (principal component analysis and discriminant analysis) was crucial to analyze the fine details of the data. The study revealed a small but clear increase in the dynamics of the inhibited enzyme compared to that of the noninhibited enzyme and contributed to the fundamental knowledge of the mechanisms of AChE-inhibitor binding valuable for the future development of inhibitors.
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| 10. |
- Gao, Shang, et al.
(author)
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Dipolar Spin Ice States with a Fast Monopole Hopping Rate in CdEr2X4 (X = Se, S)
- 2018
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 120:13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Excitations in a spin ice behave as magnetic monopoles, and their population and mobility control the dynamics of a spin ice at low temperature. CdEr2Se4 is reported to have the Pauling entropy characteristic of a spin ice, but its dynamics are three orders of magnitude faster than the canonical spin ice Dy2Ti2O7. In this Letter we use diffuse neutron scattering to show that both CdEr2Se4 and CdEr2S4 support a dipolar spin ice state-the host phase for a Coulomb gas of emergent magnetic monopoles. These Coulomb gases have similar parameters to those in Dy2Ti2O7, i.e., dilute and uncorrelated, and so cannot provide three orders faster dynamics through a larger monopole population alone. We investigate the monopole dynamics using ac susceptometry and neutron spin echo spectroscopy, and verify the crystal electric field Hamiltonian of the Er3+ ions using inelastic neutron scattering. A quantitative calculation of the monopole hopping rate using our Coulomb gas and crystal electric field parameters shows that the fast dynamics in CdEr2X4 (X = Se, S) are primarily due to much faster monopole hopping. Our work suggests that CdEr2X4 offer the possibility to study alternative spin ice ground states and dynamics, with equilibration possible at much lower temperatures than the rare earth pyrochlore examples.
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