This book contains an excellent overview of the status and highlights of brilliant light facilities and their applications in biology, chemistry, medicine, materials and environmental sciences. Overview papers on diverse fields of research by leading experts are accompanied by the highlights in the near and long-term perspectives of brilliant X-Ray photon beam usage for fundamental and applied research.
This informative and state-of-the art book on Infrared Spectroscopy in Life sciences designed for researchers, academics as well as for those working in industry, agriculture and in pharmaceutical companies features 20 chapters of applications of MIRS and NIRS in brain activity and clinical research. It shows excellent FT-IR spectra of breast tissues, atheromatic plaques, human bones and projects assessment of haemodynamic activation in the cerebral cortex, brain oxygenation studies and many interesting insights from a medical perspective.
Each generation yielded growths in brightness and time resolution that were unimaginable just a few years earlier. In particular, the progression from the 3rd to 4th generation is a true revolution; the peak brilliance of coherent soft and hard x-rays has increased by 7-10 orders of magnitude, and the image resolution has reached the angstrom (1 [symbol] = 10-10 meters) and femto-second (1 fs = 10-15 second) scales. These impressive capabilities have fostered fundamental scientific advances and led to an explosion of numerous possibilities in many important research areas including material science, chemistry, molecular biology and the life sciences. Even more remarkably, this field of photon source invention and development shows no signs of slowing down. Studies have already been started on the next generation of x-ray sources, which would have a time resolution in the atto-second (1 as = 10-18 second) regime, comparable to the time of electron motion inside atoms.
Over the last half century we have witnessed tremendous progress in the production of high-quality photons by electrons in accelerators. This dramatic evolution has seen four generations of accelerators as photon sources. The 1st generation used the electron storage rings built primarily for high-energy physics experiments, and the synchrotron radiation from the bending magnets was used parasitically. The 2nd generation involved rings dedicated to synchrotron radiation applications, with the radiation again from the bending magnets. The 3rd generation, currently the workhorse of these photon sources, is dedicated advanced storage rings that employ not only bending magnets but also insertion devices (wigglers and undulators) as the source of the radiation. The 4th generation, which is now entering operation, is photon sources based on the free electron laser (FEL), an invention made in the early 1970s.Each generation yielded growths in brightness and time resolution that were unimaginable just a few years earlier. In particular, the progression from the 3rd to 4th generation is a true revolution; the peak brilliance of coherent soft and hard x-rays has increased by 7-10 orders of magnitude, and the image resolution has reached the angstrom (1 Å = 10-10 meters) and femto-second (1 fs = 10-15 second) scales. These impressive capabilities have fostered fundamental scientific advances and led to an explosion of numerous possibilities in many important research areas including material science, chemistry, molecular biology and the life sciences. Even more remarkably, this field of photon source invention and development shows no signs of slowing down. Studies have already been started on the next generation of x-ray sources, which would have a time resolution in the atto-second (1 as = 10-18 second) regime, comparable to the time of electron motion inside atoms. It can be fully expected that these photon sources will stand out among the most powerful future science research tools. The physics community as well as the entire scientific community will hear of many pioneering and groundbreaking research results using these sources in the coming years.This volume contains fifteen articles, all written by leading scientists in their respective fields. It is aimed at the designers, builders and users of accelerator-based photon sources as well as general audience who are interested in this topic.
This proceedings volume results from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on 'Biomarkers of Radiation in the Environment: Robust Tools for Risk Assessment (BRITE)’. The BRITE workshop discussed insights from cancer research, epigenetics, non-human and human risk assessment, since many of the state-of-the-art biomarkers being developed for humans deserve consideration for environmental applications and vice versa. Sessions were very wide-ranging covering methods, mechanisms, cross disciplinary application and regulation. The chapters in this book have been grouped into five major themes that were covered by the BRITE workshop: · Techniques for biomarker development · Low-dose effect mechanisms · Biomarkers for risk evaluation · Biomarkers in wildlife · Biomarker use and responses Each chapter has been written independently and reflects the views of the chapter author(s). Therefore, the readers can form their own balanced view of the different perspectives on biomarkers of radiation in the environment. Given the breadth of topics covered and the state-of-the-art perspectives shared by leading experts in their respective fields, this book should form a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in how biomarkers can be used to improve our understanding of radiation in the environment and its potential impacts.
This book contains an excellent overview of the status and highlights of brilliant light facilities and their applications in biology, chemistry, medicine, materials and environmental sciences. Overview papers on diverse fields of research by leading experts are accompanied by the highlights in the near and long-term perspectives of brilliant X-Ray photon beam usage for fundamental and applied research.
The scientific exploration of solid materials represents one of the most important, fascinating and rewarding areas of scientific endeavour in the present day, not only from the viewpoint of advancing fundamental understanding but also from the industrial perspective, given the immense diversity of applications of solid materials across the full range of commercial sectors. Turning Points in Solid-State, Materials and Surface Science provides a state-of-the-art survey of some of the most important recent developments across the spectrum of solid-state, materials and surface sciences, while at the same time reflecting on key turning points in the evolution of this scientific discipline and projecting into the directions for future research progress. The book serves as a timely tribute to the life and work of Professor Sir John Meurig Thomas FRS, who has made monumental contributions to this field of science throughout his distinguished 50-year career in research, during which he has initiated, developed and exploited many important branches of this field. Indeed, the depth and breadth of his contributions towards the evolution and advancement of this scientific discipline, and his critical role in elevating this field to the important position that it now occupies within modern science, are demonstrated recurrently throughout the chapters of this book. Individual chapters are contributed by internationally leading experts in their respective fields, and the topics covered include solid-state chemistry of inorganic and organic materials, heterogeneous catalysis, surface science and materials science, with one section of the book focusing on modern developments in electron microscopy and its contributions to chemistry and materials science. The book serves as a modern and up-to-date monograph in these fields, and provides a valuable resource to researchers in academia and industry who require a comprehensive source of information on this important and rapidly developing subject.
This new volume, Microscopy Applied to Materials Sciences and Life Sciences. focuses on recent theoretical and practical advances in polymers and their blends, composites, and nanocompos¬ites related to their microscopic characterization. It highlights recent accomplishments and trends in the field of polymer nanocomposites and filled polymers related to microstructural characterization. This book gives an insight and better understanding into the development in microscopy as a tool for characterization. The book emphasizes recent research work in the field of microscopy in life sciences and materials sciences mainly related to its synthesis, characterizations, and applications. The book explains the application of microscopic techniques in life sciences and materials sciences, and their applications and state of current research carried out. The book aims to foster a better understanding of the properties of polymer composites by describing new techniques to measure microstructure property relationships and by utilizing techniques and expertise developed in the conventional filled polymer composites. Characterization techniques, particularly microstructural characterization, have proven to be extremely difficult because of the range of length-scales associated with these materials. Topics include: •Instrumentation and Techniques: advances in scanning probe microscopy, SEM, TEM, OM. 3D imaging and tomography, electron diffraction techniques and analytical microscopy, advances in sample preparation techniques in-situ microscopy, correlative microscopy in life and material sciences, low voltage electron microscopy. •Life Sciences: Structure and imaging of biomolecules, live cell imaging, neurobiology, organelles and cellular dynamics, multi-disciplinary approaches for medical and biological sciences, microscopic application in plants, microorganism and environmental science, super resolution microscopy in biological sciences. •Materials Sciences: materials for nanotechnology, metals alloys and inter-metallic, ceramics, composites, minerals and microscopy in cultural heritage, thin films, coatings, surfaces and interfaces, carbon based materials, polymers and soft materials and self-assembled materials, semiconductors and magnetic materials. Polymers and inorganic nanoparticles. The volume will be of significant interest to scientists working on the basic issues surrounding polymers, nanocomposites, and nanoparticulate-filled polymers, as well as those working in industry on applied problems, such as processing. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of this research, the book will be valuable to chemists, materials scientists, physicists, chemical engineers, and processing specialists who are involved and interested in the future frontiers of blends.
Drawing on the lives of five great scientists, this “scholarly, insightful, and beautifully written book” (Martin Rees, author of From Here to Infinity) illuminates the path to scientific discovery. Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein all made groundbreaking contributions to their fields—but each also stumbled badly. Darwin’s theory of natural selection shouldn’t have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Lord Kelvin gravely miscalculated the age of the earth. Linus Pauling, the world’s premier chemist, constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a “Big Bang” origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein speculated incorrectly about the forces of the universe—and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps. As Mario Livio luminously explains in this “thoughtful meditation on the course of science itself” (The New York Times Book Review), these five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on earth, the evolution of the earth, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. “Thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written” (The Washington Post), Brilliant Blunders is a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists—and the mistakes as well as the achievements that made them famous.
