Contents Diamondoid monolayers as monochromatic electron source A first look at yeast fatty acid synthase Call for general user proposals: Due January 15, 2008 The 2006 ALS Activity Report is now available News Links Measles structure offers drug design guide Researchers outline structure of largest nonvirus particle ever crystallized Pollution in China could impact our air Advanced Photon Science Initiative: Into the future at the speed of light Smallest double slit experiment: The world’s smallest double slit experiment: Breaking up the hydrogen molecule Young’s experiment performed in a hydrogen molecule Line between quantum and classical worlds is at scale of hydrogen molecule Operations For the user runs from Beam reliability*: 88.9% Completion**: 82.4% Failure of a circuit board in the SRRF system on November 14 resulted in the loss of approximately 26 hours of scheduled beam time. *Time delivered/time scheduled Questions about beam reliability should be sent to Dave Richardson (DBRichardson@lbl.gov). Requests for special operations use of the “scrubbing” shift should be sent to Rick Bloemhard (ALS-CR@lbl.gov, x4738) by 1:00 p.m. Friday. More Info To subscribe/unsubscribe, email ALSNews@lbl.gov. EDITORS DESIGNER LBNL/PUB-948 (2007) This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Disclaimer. |
Diamondoid monolayers as monochromatic electron source Contact: Wanli Yang, WLYang@lbl.gov Diamondoids are nanometer-sized molecules that feature diamond-crystal cage structures. Adamantane, the smallest member in the family, consists of one cage structure, diamantane two, triamantane three, tetramantane four, and so on. On all of these, the dangling bonds on the outer surfaces are terminated by hydrogen atoms. Because of their potential to possess novel properties of both diamond and nanomaterial, intensive efforts have been made to synthesize the larger diamondoid molecules, but to no avail. This situation was finally changed in 2003 when significant quantities of higher diamondoids were found in petroleum by researchers in MolecularDiamond Technologies. Now, scientists from Berkeley Lab, Stanford University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Germany have used photoelectron spectroscopy at the ALS to reveal an intriguing feature: monochromatized electron emission from a self-assembled monolayer of diamondoids. This discovery has immediately attracted the attention of people who are searching for materials for next-generation electron emitters. Read more… Publication about this research: W.L. Yang, J.D. Fabbri, T.M. Willey, J.R.I. Lee, J.E. Dahl, R.M.K. Carlson, P.R. Schreiner, A.A. Fokin, B.A. Tkachenko, N.A. Fokina, W. Meevasana, N. Mannella, K. Tanaka, X.J. Zhou, T. van Buuren, M.A. Kelly, Z. Hussain, N.A. Melosh, and Z.-X. Shen, “Monochromatic electron photoemission from diamondoid monolayers,” Science 316, 1460 (2007). A first look at yeast fatty acid synthase Contact: Yong Xiong, Yong.Xiong@yale.edu Fatty acids are the major constituents of eukaryotic and bacterial cellular membranes. They are used for functionally important post-translational protein modifications, and chains of fatty acids are the main storage compartments of an organism’s chemical energy. Fatty acid synthesis is carried out by fatty acid synthase (FAS), which catalyzes cycles of multistep chemical reactions that are essentially the same in all organisms. FAS uses one acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) and seven malonyl-CoA molecules to synthesize the 16-carbon palmitic acid, the most abundant fatty acid in eukaryotes. Now, for the first time, a group of researchers has determined the atomic structure of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae FAS derived from two crystals of the enzyme, using data collected at ALS Beamlines 8.2.1 and 8.2.2, as well as other synchrotron facilities. Read more… Publication about this research: I.B. Lomakin, Y. Xiong, and T.A. Steitz, “The crystal structure of yeast fatty acid synthase, a cellular machine with eight active sites working together,” Cell 129, 319 (2007). Contact: Tony van Buuren, vanbuuren1@llnl.gov
Contact: Julie McCullough, JMccullough@lbl.gov
1. Rate interest in following types of articles:
2. Rate the level of writing:
3. Delivery frequency preferred:
4. Delivery method preferred:
5. Web format preferred:
6. General Comments* Several readers responded with comments such as “great job,” and we thank you so much for your support. In addition, here are some specific suggestions readers provided:
* Comments compiled from Questions 1 (rate interest in other types of articles) and 6. Call for general user proposals: Due January 15, 2008
The following resources are available for further information:
The 2006 ALS Activity Report is now available
ALSNews will be taking the month of December off. We will return in the new year with our January 30, 2008, issue. Have a happy and safe holiday! |