Dr
Markus Strobl
(ESS-AB)
07/09/2015, 10:00
In fall 2014 construction of the European Spallation Source (ESS) started with breaking ground and laying the foundation stone.
The long planned and designed ESS long pulse spallation neutron source and major European neutron science center is since becoming a reality, though the path to first neutrons in instruments in 2019 and producing cutting edge science is still a long one. However,...
Dr
Christopher Garvey
(ANSTO)
07/09/2015, 12:00
Wing scales of some butterfly and beetle species contain bicontinuous phases of polymer, largely chitin, and air filled voids. The single network gyroid phase I4132 has been identified as the structure present in butterfly wing scales of several butterfly species with green wing scales [1,2,3]. We have also identified the diamond phase in the wings of in the diamond weevil, Entimus...
Dr
Borislav Angelov
(Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Heyrovsky Sq. 2, CZ-16206 Prague, Czech Republic)
07/09/2015, 12:30
The formation of large nanochannels in cationic lipid cubosomes is demonstrated by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The swollen cubic structure is stabilized by the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) and a cationic amphiphile. These cubosomes are of interest for multi-drug nanoencapsulation, mitochondrial mimetics, or...
Dr
Ben Kent
(Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin)
07/09/2015, 14:00
Sugars, particularly disaccharides, are widely recognised for their ability to protect cellular membranes in environments with scarce liquid water. Despite widespread acceptance, there remain competing theories over the mechanism responsible for this effect. The water replacement hypothesis[1], based on both (indirect) experimental evidence and molecular dynamics simulations[2], suggests that...
Dr
Volker Urban
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
07/09/2015, 14:30
The biophysics of lipid bilayer membrane systems is one of the essential prerequisites that enable the complex functions of living systems. The roles provided by membranes include compartmentalization and sub-cellular structures, the possibility for maintaining gradients of concentration or chemical potential, and the involvement in signal transduction, to name a few. Lipid bilayer systems...
Prof.
Jörg Pieper
(University of Tartu)
07/09/2015, 16:00
The effect of dehydration on the lamellar spacing of photosystem II (PS II) membrane fragments from spinach has been investigated using neutron membrane diffraction at room temperature. The diffraction data reveal a repeat distance D of about 129 Å at 90% r.h. which shifts to about 103.7±2.5 Å at 44% r.h.. Within experimental error, the latter repeat distance remains almost the same at...
Dr
Henrich Frielinghaus
(JCNS, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH)
07/09/2015, 17:00
A planar hydrophilic interface induces particular order and orientation in amphiphilic systems that then can be observed using grazing incidence scattering methods. Different systems such as microemulsions and lipid bilayer systems are discussed, where we identified lamellar, hexagonal and other structures. Apart from structure, the dynamics of such systems also display highly interesting...
Prof.
Kell Mortensen
(Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
08/09/2015, 09:00
Determination of the crystalline structure of many soft-matter materials is often limited by a correlation-length that is relative short compared to the size of the unit cell and a molecular form factor that significantly reduces the scattering intensity at larger scattering angles. The crystallographic studies are therefore often limited to only few orders of relative broad Bragg-reflections....
Prof.
Hiroshi TAKAHASHI
(Biophysics Laboratory, Gunma University, JAPAN)
08/09/2015, 10:50
Various effects of heavy water (D2O) on life processes have been reported since the discovery of D2O. Heavy water decreases the growth rates of some bacteria and retards the circadian rhythm of some animals. High concentrations of D2O are believed to be toxic for most mammals. Detailed molecular mechanisms in these effects, however, have still remained unknown. Several physicochemical...
Prof.
Gary Bryant
(RMIT University)
08/09/2015, 11:25
Hard sphere colloidal suspensions are widely used experimental model systems for studying phase behaviour and dynamics in condensed matter. These colloidal suspensions undergo a crystallization transition at concentrations above the freezing volume fraction of 0.494, allowing the study of the kinetics and dynamics of crystallization. As these colloidal particles are orders of magnitude larger...
Mrs
Anne Bremer
(Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology)
08/09/2015, 12:25
The significance of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) has been underestimated for a long time in spite of their high abundance in nature. In fact, it has been predicted that more than 30% of all eukaryotic proteins are IDPs. IDPs have no stable secondary structure in dilute solutions, but instead exist as dynamic ensembles of conformations. We are focusing on the structural and...
Ms
Ashley Roberts
(Monash University)
08/09/2015, 12:45
Colloids & General Soft Condensed Matter
Engineered membranes that are selectively ion-, gas-, or liquid- permeable are key aspects of emerging technology especially in the fields of gas separation (1), water purification (2), and energy storage (3). Recent reports have shown that graphene-based membranes consisting of graphene, chemically converted graphene (CCG), graphene oxide (GO), or partially reduced GO sheets have unique...
Mr
Guang WANG
(Deakin University)
08/09/2015, 14:05
The hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) mesophase is an ideal template for the fabrication of monolithic mesophase polymer membrane. Desirable characteristics imbued from the template are uniform nano-pore size, large surface area for water purification and reorientation of the mesochannels with long range perpendicular to the surface of membrane. However the binary hexagonal LLC system...
14.
Opportunities for soft matter diffraction experiments on ESS reflectometers and SANS instruments
Hanna Wacklin
(European Spallation Source ESS AB)
08/09/2015, 14:25
TBA
Dr
Esko Oksanen
(European Spallation Source ESS AB)
08/09/2015, 15:05
The NMX macromolecular diffractometer planned at the European Spallation Source in Lund is a time-of-flight (TOF) quasi-Laue diffractometer optimised for small samples and large unit cells in order to locate the hydrogen atoms relevant for the function macromolecules.
The ESS long pulse source with its highly brilliant neutron moderator is ideally suited for a macromolecular diffractometer....
