Best practices for time-resolved serial synchrotron crystallography

With recent developments in X-ray sources, instrumentation and data-analysis tools, time-resolved crystallographic experiments, which were originally the preserve of a few expert groups, are becoming simpler and can be carried out at more radiation sources, and are thus increasingly accessible to a growing user base. However, these experiments are just that: discrete experiments, not just `data collections'. As such, careful planning and consideration of potential pitfalls is required to enable a successful experiment. Here, some of the key factors that should be considered during the planning and execution of a time-resolved structural study are outlined, with a particular focus on synchrotron-based experiments.

FROM INDUSTRY TO TOURISM: THE CASE OF LX FACTORY IN THE ALCÂNTARA DISTRICT (LISBON)

In the past few years Lisbon has been through many changes, most of them related to the tourism growth. Alcântara is one of the neighbourhoods that became popular, once an industrial area that is presently experiencing a process of urban regeneration. Alcântara is probably the best district of Lisbon to recall the industrial era. At the same time, it has all the services that it needs to welcome visitors: diversity of tourist supplies; a vibrant image, trendy, but also authentic; a barycentric position between two well-known quarters (Baixa and Belém); a good accessibility, still being strengthened; a fast growth in accommodation supply. Arguably, an important role in the tourist development of Alcântara is played by the LX Factory, a former industrial area of around 23.000 m2, where important companies were located. LX Factory is considered a successful experiment of reconversion of an industrial space into a multifunctional complex, which still preserves the former factory atmosphere, although according to a contemporary formula. The LX Factory was inaugurated in 2008. It hosts design offices, art ateliers, start-ups, shops, restaurants, cafés, night clubs, co-working spaces, and even a hostel. It also hosts cultural activities, concerts, workshops, and a Sunday market of vintage and biological products. A previous research (Zarrilli et al., 2019) showed that LX Factory is by far the main tourist attractor of Alcântara. In this contribution, we will try to deeper investigate what we may call the LX Factory phenomenon, in terms of tourist image, flows, motivations and assessments. At this aim, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of shop owners located in its facilities. Conclusions allow us to understand LX Factory main issues from the shop owners’ perspective, regarding the commercial activity, the current image, the people who visit it, and their opinion about the neighbourhood.

Proteins in Wonderland: The Magical World of Pressure

Admitting the “Native”, “Unfolded” and “Fibril” states as the three basic generic states of proteins in nature, each of which is characterized with its partial molar volume, here we predict that the interconversion among these generic states N, U, F may be performed simply by making a temporal excursion into the so called “the high-pressure regime”, created artificially by putting the system under sufficiently high hydrostatic pressure, where we convert N to U and F to U, and then back to “the low-pressure regime” (the “Anfinsen regime”), where we convert U back to N (U→N). Provided that the solution conditions (temperature, pH, etc.) remain largely the same, the idea provides a general method for choosing N, U, or F of a protein, to a great extent at will, assisted by the proper use of the external perturbation pressure. A successful experiment is demonstrated for the case of hen lysozyme, for which the amyloid fibril state F prepared at 1 bar is turned almost fully back into its original native state N at 1 bar by going through the “the high-pressure regime”. The outstanding simplicity and effectiveness of pressure in controlling the conformational state of a protein are expected to have a wide variety of applications both in basic and applied bioscience in the future.

Policy Question: Is a Sovereign Internet Feasible?

In 2019, Russia attempted to implement a long-term policy objective, to enable itself to cut the Russian Internet (RuNet) off from the rest, by blocking the flow of data through Internet Exchange Points at national borders. It claimed that a successful experiment had been carried out. This chapter looks at why this should happen and whether it is possible. The role of US interests, for instance in ICANN, is considered as a risk to Russian sovereignty, although American attempts to interfere with the Domain Name System would be counterproductive and unlikely to be successful. Attempts by Iran and Egypt to cut the Internet off are also discussed.

Characterisation and Study of Compounds by Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction

A few years after the discovery in 1895 of X-rays by Röntgen, the first successful experiment single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) was reported by Laue, Friedrich, and Knipping [...]

An Object Model for Seafloor Observatory Sensor Control in the East China Sea

Seafloor observatories enable long-term, real-time, and continuous observation that marks a new way for oceanographic measurements. In terms of seafloor observatory research, sensor control is a key issue for the stable and effective operations of functional observatories. In this paper, an object model is proposed to standardize seafloor observatory sensor control and data acquisition. The object model is conceptionally designed as a set of sensor resource objects, based on the attributes and operations of which a client–server sensor control architecture is enabled for bidirectional information flow of control commands and observation data. The object model-based architecture is implemented with a prototype control system for plug-and-play enablement. The prototype system was put into a series of tests before applied to the East China Sea Experimental Seafloor Observatory, performing consistently with all the project requirements. Given the successful experiment, the object model design and prototype implementation are feasible to resolve seafloor observatory sensor control and beneficial for ocean observatory sciences.

Do Japanese Economic Puzzles Validate Modern Monetary Theory?

Modern monetary theory (MMT) claims that a monetary sovereign government has an unlimited financial capacity to purchase whatever it wishes and fulfil its future financial obligations. It is impossible for a monetary sovereign government to be insolvent or go bankrupt. MMT advocates often cite Japan as a successful experiment of the MMT, because it is the economy that has the highest public debt among the OECD (Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development) economies and experienced dramatic growth in high-powered money supply since 2013, but has low inflation, stable yen exchange rates and zero interest.