The new X-ray/visible microscopy MAXWELL technique for fast three-dimensional nanoimaging with isotropic resolution.

Microscopy by Achromatic X-rays With Emission of Laminar Light (MAXWELL) is a new X-ray/visible technique with attractive characteristics including isotropic resolution in all directions, large-volume imaging and high throughput. An ultrathin, laminar X-ray beam produced by a Wolter type I mirror irradiates the sample stimulating the emission of visible light by scintillating nanoparticles, captured by an optical system. Three-dimensional (3D) images are obtained by scanning the specimen with respect to the laminar beam. We implemented and tested the technique with a high-brightness undulator at SPring-8, demonstrating its validity for a variety of specimens. This work was performed under the Synchrotrons for Neuroscience-an Asia-Pacific Strategic Enterprise (SYNAPSE) collaboration.

Structure and Dynamics in Mg2+-Stabilized γ-Na3PO4.

In parallel with advances in the synthesis of solid-state ionic conductors, there is a need to understand the underlying mechanisms behind their improved ionic conductivities. This can be achieved by obtaining an atomic level picture of the interplay between the structure of materials and the resultant ionic diffusion processes. To this end, the structure and dynamics of Mg2+-stabilized rotor phase material γ-Na3PO4, characterized by neutron scattering, are detailed in this work. The Mg2+-stabilized rotor phase is found to be thermally stable from 4 to 650 K. However, signatures of orientational disorder of the phosphate anions are also evident in the average structure. Long-range Na+ self-diffusion was probed by quasi-elastic neutron scattering and subsequently modeled via a jump diffusion matrix with consideration of the phosphate anion rotations. The resultant diffusion model points directly to coupled anion-cation dynamics. Our approach highlights the importance of considering the whole system when developing an atomic level picture of structure and dynamics, which is critical in the rational design and optimization of energy materials.

Data-processing technique for the Taipan "Be-filter" neutron spectrometer at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

There are five filter-analyzer neutron spectrometers available worldwide for scientists to use in order to measure the vibrational density of states in various samples. While Taipan, the thermal spectrometer, has been operated as a triple-axis spectrometer at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering since 2010, a beryllium filter analyzer spectrometer was added in 2016. Due to the complex nature of the data post-processing, it has thus far been impossible to fully treat experimental data from scientific measurements taken over the last five years. We have successfully created a robust method of treating data from the Taipan filter-analyzer and present the method on three different samples. The data-treatment process includes correction for the non-linear energy variation of a particular monochromator, removal of higher-order wavelength contamination, and estimation of low-energy multiple-scattering. The steps described here can be utilized by all users of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation "Be-filter"-past, present, and future.

What difference does a methyl group make: pentamethylbenzene?

The crystal structure of pentamethylbenzene has been obtained for the first time with the use of synchrotron radiation, whilst the low-energy spectrum of lattice dynamics, dominated by the methyl group torsions, was obtained using inelastic neutron scattering. The effect of symmetry lowering by the removal of a single methyl group relative to hexamethylbenzene has been investigated, including the role that this plays in the charge-transfer characteristics of complexes formed with tetracyanoethylene.

Does local disorder occur in the pyrochlore zirconates?

The zirconates Ln(2)Zr(2)O(7) (Ln = lanthanoid) have been studied using a combination of Zr L-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction methods. These studies demonstrate that as the size of the lanthanoid cation decreases, the local structure evolves smoothly from the ideal pyrochlore toward the defect fluorite rather than undergoing an abrupt transformation. The Zr L-edge spectrum is found to be extremely sensitive to changes in the local coordination environment and demonstrates an increase in local disorder across the pyrochlore oxides. The sensitivity of the XANES measurements enables us to identify the progressive nature of the transition that could not be detected using bulk diffraction techniques.

Central-atom size effects on the methyl torsions of Group†XIV tetratolyls.

The Group XIV tetratolyl series X(C(6)H(4)-CH(3))(4) (X = C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) were studied by using inelastic neutron scattering to measure the low-energy phonon spectra to directly access the methyl-group torsional modes. The effect of increased molecular radius as a function of the size of the central atom was shown to have direct influence on the methyl dynamics, reinforced with the findings of molecular dynamics and contact surface calculations, based upon the solid-state structures. The torsional modes in the lightest analogue were found to be predominantly intramolecular: the Si and Ge analogues have a high degree of intermolecular methyl-methyl group interactions, whilst the heaviest analogues (Sn and Pb) showed pronounced intermolecular methyl interactions with the whole phonon bath of the lattice modes.

The fate of platinum(II) and platinum(IV) anti-cancer agents in cancer cells and tumours.

SRIXE mapping has been used to gain insight into the fate of platinum(II) and platinum(IV) complexes in cells and tumours treated with anticancer active complexes to facilitate the development of improved drugs. SRIXE maps were collected of thin sections of human ovarian (A2780) cancer cells treated with bromine containing platinum complexes, cis-[PtCl(2)(3-Brpyr)(NH(3))] (3-Brpyr=3-bromopyridine) and cis,trans,cis-[PtCl(2)(OAcBr)(2)(NH(3))(2)] (OAcBr=bromoacetate), or a platinum complex with an intercalator attached cis-[PtCl(2)(2-[(3-aminopropyl)amino]-9,10-anthracenedione)(NH(3))]. After 24h the complexes appear to be localised in the cell nucleus with a lower concentration in the surrounding cytoplasm. In cells treated with cis-[PtCl(2)(3-Brpyr)(NH(3))] the concentration of bromine was substantially higher than in control cells and the bromine was co-localised with the platinum consistent with the 3-bromopyridine ligand remaining bound to the platinum. The cells treated with cis,trans,cis-[PtCl(2)(OAcBr)(2)(NH(3))(2)] also showed an increased level of bromine, but to a much lesser extent than for those treated with cis-[PtCl(2)(3-Brpyr)(NH(3))] suggestive of substantial reduction of the platinum(IV) complex. Maps were also collected from thin sections of a 4T1.2 neo 1 mammary tumour xenograft removed from a mouse 3h after treatment with cis,trans,cis-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(NH(3))(2)] and revealed selective uptake of platinum by one cell.

The cellular distribution and oxidation state of platinum(II) and platinum(IV) antitumour complexes in cancer cells.

The cellular distribution of platinum in A2780 ovarian cancer cells treated with cisplatin and platinum(IV) complexes with a range of reduction potentials has been examined using elemental analysis (synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray emission). The cellular distribution of platinum(IV) drugs after 24 h is similar to that of cisplatin, consistent with the majority of administered platinum(IV) drugs being reduced. Micro-X-ray absorption near-edge spectra of cells treated with cisplatin and platinum(IV) complexes confirmed the reduction of platinum(IV) to platinum(II). In cells treated, the most difficult to reduce complex, cis, trans, cis-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(NH(3))(2)], platinum(IV) was detected in the cells along with platinum(II). The observations are in accordance with the relative ease of reduction of the platinum(IV) complexes used and support the requirement of reduction for activation of platinum(IV) complexes.

The direct mapping of the uptake of platinum anticancer agents in individual human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells using a hard X-ray microprobe.

Uptake of platinum-based anticancer compounds into individual human ovarian andenocarcinoma cells was measured using an X-ray microprobe. The uptake of cisplatin, a platinum-based compound, in drug-resistant cells is decreased by approximately 50% after 24 h, compared with the uptake of the drug in nonresistant cells over the same time period. The Pt103 derivative of the drug, in contrast, showed an increased uptake by an order of magnitude in resistant cells over the same time period. Increased uptake appears to allow Pt103 to overcome the resistance mechanism developed by the cell. This work additionally shows that the X-ray microprobe is able to directly quantify Pt drug uptake on a subcellular level and can measure the mass of Pt down to a detectable limit of 20 attograms of Pt (2 x 10(-17) grams or 6 x 10(4) Pt atoms) in 1 s. Such exquisite elemental sensitivity combined with high spatial resolution paves the way for quantitative submicron three-dimensional mapping of elemental distributions within individual cells.

Hard X-ray microprobe studies of chromium(VI)-treated V79 Chinese hamster lung cells: intracellular mapping of the biotransformation products of a chromium carcinogen.

The uptake of carcinogenic and mutagenic Cr compounds and the intracellular distribution of their biotransformation products in V79 Chinese hamster lung cells were studied by synchrotron-radiation-induced X-ray emission (SRIXE). SRIXE analysis was performed on whole cells that had been treated with either Cr(III) or Cr(V) 1,10-phenanthroline complexes, or Cr(VI). The high spatial resolution (0.3 microm) and elemental sensitivity (~10(-15) g Cr/cell) of the technique provided detailed maps of Cr and other cellular elements in thin sections prepared from Cr(VI)-treated cells. The Cr carcinogen concentrated in P-rich regions corresponding to the nucleus, as well as other areas of the cell that are likely to correspond to organelles. This is the first study that has enabled the determination of the localization of the biotransformation products of Cr(VI) carcinogens in a target lung cell.