How Do Radionuclides Accumulate in Marine Organisms? A Case Study of Europium with Aplysina cavernicola.

In the ocean, complex interactions between natural and anthropogenic radionuclides, seawater, and diverse marine biota provide a unique window through which to examine ecosystem and trophic transfer mechanisms in cases of accidental dissemination. The nature of interaction between radionuclides, the marine environment, and marine species is therefore essential for better understanding transfer mechanisms from the hydrosphere to the biosphere. Although data pertaining to the rate of global transfer are often available, little is known regarding the mechanism of environmental transport and uptake of heavy radionuclides by marine species.

Evidence for 5d-σ and 5d-π covalency in lanthanide sesquioxides from oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

The electronic structure in the complete series of stable lanthanide sesquioxides, Ln2O3 (Ln = La to Lu, except radioactive Pm), has been evaluated using oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) with a scanning transmission X-ray microscope (STXM). The experimental results agree with recent synthetic, spectroscopic and theoretical investigations that provided evidence for 5d orbital involvement in lanthanide bonding, while confirming the traditional viewpoint that there is little Ln 4f and O 2p orbital mixing. However, the results also showed that changes in the energy and occupancy of the 4f orbitals can impact Ln 5d and O 2p mixing, leading to several different bonding modes for seemingly identical Ln2O3 structures.

Effects of Ligand Geometry on the Photophysical Properties of Photoluminescent Eu(III) and Sm(III) 1-Hydroxypyridin-2-one Complexes in Aqueous Solution.

A series of 10 tetradentate 1-hydroxy-pyridin-2-one (1,2-HOPO) ligands and corresponding eight-coordinated photoluminescent Eu(III) and Sm(III) complexes were prepared. Generally, the ligands differ by the linear (nLI) aliphatic linker length, from 2 to 8 methylene units between the bidentate 1,2-HOPO chelator units. The photoluminescent quantum yields (Φtot) were found to vary with the linker length, and the same trend was observed for the Eu(III) and Sm(III) complexes.

Direct observation of 4f intrashell excitation in luminescent Eu complexes by time-resolved X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy.

We report time-resolved X-ray absorption near edge structure (TR-XANES) measurements at the Eu L3 edge upon photoexcitation of several Eu(III)-based luminescent lanthanide complexes. We find an unambiguous signature of the 4f intrashell excitation that occurs upon energy transfer from the photoactive organic antennas to the lanthanide species. Phenomenologically, this observation provides the basis for direct investigation of a crucial step in the energy transfer pathways that lead to sensitized luminescence in lanthanide-based dyes.

Fast Detection Allows Analysis of the Electronic Structure of Metalloprotein by X-ray Emission Spectroscopy at Room Temperature.

The paradigm of "detection-before-destruction" was tested for a metalloprotein complex exposed at room temperature to the high x-ray flux typical of third generation synchrotron sources. Following the progression of the x-ray induced damage by Mn Kβ x-ray emission spectroscopy, we demonstrated the feasibility of collecting room temperature data on the electronic structure of native Photosystem II, a trans-membrane metalloprotein complex containing a Mn(4)Ca cluster. The determined non-damaging observation timeframe (about 100 milliseconds using continuous monochromatic beam, deposited dose 1*10(7) photons/µm(2) or 1.

The p110 delta structure: mechanisms for selectivity and potency of new PI(3)K inhibitors.

Deregulation of the phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K) pathway has been implicated in numerous pathologies including cancer, diabetes, thrombosis, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Recently, small-molecule and ATP-competitive PI(3)K inhibitors with a wide range of selectivities have entered clinical development. In order to understand the mechanisms underlying the isoform selectivity of these inhibitors, we developed a new expression strategy that enabled us to determine to our knowledge the first crystal structure of the catalytic subunit of the class IA PI(3)K p110 delta.