From the Director: Looking Forward to New Technologies and Partnerships
SSRL has seen a lot of activity over the past year with no sign of slowing
down. In addition to the ongoing user program – with about 1,675 on-site
and remote access users in 2013, over 520 journal papers and 91 theses
completed by students using SSRL – we have a number of exciting upgrade
projects and new beam lines in the works. We are currently planning for the DOE
triennial review of SSRL in June, where we will be describing these past
accomplishments and our future plans in great detail.
Over the next several years, SSRL will be executing on the SPEAR3
accelerator upgrade program with the goal of maintaining the high level of
reliability of over 97 percent that our users have grown to expect, as well as
further reducing emittance, which will enable research on smaller and more
dilute samples.
On the beam line side, we have taken advantage of new partnerships to begin
the development of three brand new beam lines and the upgrade of two others.
The partnerships include a collaboration with Stanford University and The
Scripps Research Institute to build and operate a new microbeam macromolecular
crystallography beam line and joint programs with the DOE Energy Innovation Hubs and Energy Frontier
Research Centers, whose goals range from achieving revolutionary advances
in battery performance to developing a solar energy generation system based on
artificial photosynthesis. SSRL is also partnering with the National Synchrotron
Light Source (NSLS) with DOE support to add capacity at SSRL for existing
NSLS users during the transition from NSLS shutting down in September 2014 and
NSLS-II becoming fully operational. This collaboration offers critical help to
the displaced NSLS users, while providing new capabilities to the overall user
community.
Within SLAC, SSRL has been partnering with Photon Science and LCLS on energy
and correlated materials research and macromolecular crystallography.
Besides keeping the staff very busy, all of this activity provides for a
vibrant and ever-improving environment for our user community, adding
state-of-the-art capabilities that draw in even more users.
Science Highlights
Deconstructing the Peptide-MHC Specificity of T Cell
Recognition – Contacts: Michael E. Birnbaum and K.
Christopher Garcia, Stanford University
As a crucial part of an organism’s immune system, T cells detect and
fight infection and cellular dysfunction. Each T cell has a unique T-cell
receptor (TCR) on its surface that recognizes and binds peptide antigens,
triggering an immune response. The peptide antigens themselves, often stemming
from intruding organisms such as bacteria, are bound to molecules known as
major histocompatibility complexes, or MHCs. TCRs show a great deal of
diversity in order to ensure that the large number of potential antigens can be
detected. Although of great medical interest, predicting what peptides a given
TCR recognizes has been challenging. A team led by researchers has now found a
way to increase the success of such predictions from 30 to up to 90
percent. Read more...
See also: SLAC Press Release: Stanford Researchers Discover Immune
System’s Rules of Engagement
Measurement of Transient Atomic-scale Displacements in Thin Films
with Picosecond and Femtometer Resolution – Contacts: Aaron
Lindenberg and Michael Kozina, Stanford University/SLAC, and Apurva Mehta,
SSRL
Optical pump/x-ray probe experiments are key for studies of ultrafast
processes in a wide range of materials. In these experiments, an optical pump
laser pulse excites a sample and is followed by an x-ray probe pulse that
determines the sample’s response. Such studies have been primarily
focused on non-equilibrium situations, in which the pump pulse causes strong
perturbations, and typically probe pulses with rather low repetition rates. A
team of researchers has recently put a complementary approach to the test,
exploring weak perturbations and high repetition rates. Read more...
Iron(IV)hydroxide pKa and the Role of Thiolate
Ligation in C–H Bond Activation by Cytochrome
P450 – Contacts: Courtney M. Roach (Krest), SSRL and Michael
T. Green, Pennsylvania State University
Cytochrome P450s make up a large family of iron-containing enzymes that
catalyze the oxidation of organic substances. As nature’s detoxifiers,
they are responsible for 75 percent of the phase one metabolism of
pharmaceuticals. A long-standing mystery of P450s is how they can perform these
rather aggressive reactions without damaging their own protein structures in
auto-oxidation reactions. With a recent study researchers have made a
large step forward in understanding this enigmatic chemistry, opening up new
possibilities for biological, medical and synthetic P450 research. Read more...
The Ductility of Human Jaw Bone Attached to a Tooth –
Contacts: Sunita P. Ho, University of California San Francisco, Joy C.
Andrews and Piero Pianetta, SSRL
Local changes of the periodontal ligament (PDL), i.e. the connective tissue
fibers attaching teeth to the jaw bone, can cause abnormal dental conditions
such as ankylosis, which affects growth and development of the jaw and
potentially leads to jaw distortions. In a recent study researchers conducted
an in-depth study of bony protrusions within the PDL space – changes that
occur due to age and other factors. Read more...
Upcoming Onsite Events
SSRL School on Synchrotron X-ray Scattering
Techniques in Materials and Environmental Sciences, June 3-5, 2014
The 7th SSRL SRXRS (Synchrotron Radiation-based X-ray
Scattering techniques) School will provide a practical users' guide to
planning and conducting scattering measurements at SSRL beam lines, and will
cover important techniques including small angle scattering, thin-film
scattering, powder diffraction, structure refinement and surface x-ray
scattering. The school will address topics that are not commonly included in
text books or class lectures, and typically obtained only through
on-the-experiment training. There will be hands-on sessions at SSRL beam lines
and session of diffraction theory and on data analysis. The school will also
cover new instrumentation at SSRL scattering beam lines. This year's
school, which will take place June 3-5, is organized by: Apurva Mehta, Stefan
Mannsfeld, Chris Tassone, and Mike Toney. See website
PULSE Institute - Ultrafast X-ray Summer Seminar, June 15-19,
2014
Hosted by the Stanford PULSE Institute, the UXSS is organized in
collaboration with the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science at DESY in
Hamburg, Germany, and the Helmholtz Virtual Institute for Dynamic Pathways in
Multidimensional Landscapes, Germany.
The goal of UXSS 2014 is to disseminate information and train students and
post-docs on new opportunities in ultrafast science, particularly using x-ray
free electron lasers. See website
SSRL School on Synchrotron X-ray Microscale Imaging Techniques, July
11-15, 2014 - Save the Date
The 1st SSRL SXRMI (Synchrotron X-ray MicroXAS Imaging) School will provide
a practical users' guide to planning and conducting microXAS imaging
experiments at SSRL beam lines. Students will participate in hands-on sessions
at the beam lines, including on the following facilities: hard x-ray microXAS
imaging (BL2-3), hard x-ray mesoprobe XAS imaging (BL10-2), and the newest
microXAS imaging “tender” energy beam line (BL14-3). The
hands-on sessions will be paired with several sessions of data analysis and
data mining of imaging data. The School will also cover new instrumentation and
techniques at SSRL microXAS imaging beam lines and will include topics that can
only be learned by direct access and experience at the facility through
on-the-experiment training. This initial school, which will take place July
11-15, is organized by Sam Webb and Courtney Roach. See website
High Power Laser Workshop, October
7-8, 2014 - Save the Date
SSRL/LCLS Annual Users'
Conference and Workshops, October 7-10, 2014 - Save the Date
Macromolecular Crystallography: Stanford AutoMounter
(SAM) Developers' Forum Workshop,
October 10, 2014 - Save the Date
NUFO Event
User Science Exhibition in DC, June 10
A National User Facility Organization (NUFO) User Science
Exhibition will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 in the foyer of the U.S.
House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building. Discovery and energy are the
themes for the NUFO exhibition. Users are encouraged to participate in this
event, which will feature hands-on demonstrations, videos, and examples of user
and industry research. Contact NUFO Vice Chair Stephen Wasserman
(swasserman@lilly.com). The Future of
America is the Research of Today
User Research Administration Announcements
-
Proposal Deadlines
– SSRL X-ray/VUV proposals can be submitted three
times a year: June 1, and September 1 and December 1
– SSRL Macromolecular Crystallography proposals can be
submitted April 1 and July 1 and December 1.
– LCLS proposals for experiments on AMO, SXR,
XPP, CXI, XCS, MEC are due by 4 pm (PST) on July 29, 2014
— Submit proposals and beam time requests through
the user
portal.
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Food Service Available during Construction of New
Cafeteria in Science and User Support Building
The SLAC Cafe, auditorium and visitor center are closed and
will be replaced by a new Science and User Support Building (SUSB). During this
construction (2013-2015), temporary food service will be provided by the
Cardinal Chef Mobile Gourmet food trucks, 11am - 2pm in front of SLAC Building
27. Lunch menus are posted online. See map
In an effort to expand the food service available onsite
SLAC offers a "Virtual Cafeteria" using services provided by the
"Eat Club". Eat Club is a local lunch delivery service. They
collaborate with local restaurants to provide quality food fitting a variety of
tastes at an affordable price. Orders are placed and paid for through their online
service. The SLAC community can review the daily selections and place an
online order in the morning using a personal credit card. Drop-off deliveries
are made around noon each day to several locations around the site, inlcuding a
drop-off location in the SSRL Building 120 Experimental Hall. Individual
on-line registration takes just a few minutes. The url for sign-up for a free
account and for pre-order is www.myeatclub.com/slac-cafeteria
A Starbucks kiosk near the Guest House parking lot is now
open. Starbucks offers daily walk-up coffee, takeout pastries and cold
sandwiches. The kiosk is open from 6am to 6pm Monday through Friday.
SLAC Security Update
The Panofsky gate behind the guest house will no longer be available for
pedestrian access to Sand Hill Road. Please use the Main Gate
instead.
The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) is a third-generation
light source producing extremely bright x-rays for basic and applied
research. SSRL attracts and supports scientists from around the world who
use its state-of-the-art capabilities to make discoveries that benefit society.
SSRL, a U.S. DOE Office of Science national user facility, is a Directorate of
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University for the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SSRL Structural
Molecular Biology Program is supported by the DOE Office of Biological and
Environmental Research, and by the National Institutes of Health, National
Institute of General Medical Sciences. For more information about SSRL science,
operations and schedules, visit http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Lisa Dunn
