X-ray lens figure errors retrieved by deep learning from several beam intensity images.

The phase problem in the context of focusing synchrotron beams with X-ray lenses is addressed. The feasibility of retrieving the surface error of a lens system by using only the intensity of the propagated beam at several distances is demonstrated. A neural network, trained with a few thousand simulations using random errors, can predict accurately the lens error profile that accounts for all aberrations.

BEATS: BEAmline for synchrotron X-ray microTomography at SESAME.

The ID10 beamline of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) synchrotron light source in Jordan was inaugurated in June 2023 and is now open to scientific users. The beamline, which was designed and installed within the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME (BEATS), provides full-field X-ray radiography and microtomography imaging with monochromatic or polychromatic X-rays up to photon energies of 100 keV. The photon source generated by a 2.

X-ray beam quality after a mirror reflection: Experimental and simulated results for a toroidal mirror in a 4 generation storage-ring beamline.

Background: The surface errors found in X-ray mirrors constitute a limiting factor for preserving beam quality. This is particularly important when the X-ray beam has low emittance and a significant coherence fraction, like in newly upgraded synchrotron storage rings.

Methods: We studied the fringes observed in the image of an undulator-produced X-ray beam reflected by a high-quality toroidal mirror.

A fast and lightweight tool for partially coherent beamline simulations in fourth-generation storage rings based on coherent mode decomposition.

A new algorithm to perform coherent mode decomposition of undulator radiation is proposed. It is based on separating the horizontal and vertical directions, reducing the problem by working with one-dimension wavefronts. The validity conditions of this approximation are discussed.

Assessing implications of nanoplastics exposure to plants with advanced nanometrology techniques.

Despite the increasing attention given to the impacts of nanoplastics in terrestrial environments, there is limited data about the effects on plants, and the quantitative information on uptake. In the present study, wheat plants grown in hydroponics were exposed to Pd-doped nanoplastics. This allowed us to quantify nanoplastics uptake and translocation to the shoots.

Thermal optimization of a high-heat-load double-multilayer monochromator.

Finite-element analysis is used to study the thermal deformation of a multilayer mirror due to the heat load from the undulator beam at a low-emittance synchrotron source, specifically the ESRF-EBS upgrade beamline EBSL-2. The energy bandwidth of the double-multilayer monochromator is larger than that of the relevant undulator harmonic, such that a considerable portion of the heat load is reflected. Consequently, the absorbed power is non-uniformly distributed on the surface.

Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence and FTIR Signatures for Amyloid Fibrillary and Nonfibrillary Plaques.

Amyloid plaques are one of the principal hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease and are mainly composed of Aβ amyloid peptides together with other components such as lipids, cations, or glycosaminoglycans. The structure of amyloid peptide's aggregates is related to the peptide toxicity and highly depends on the aggregation conditions and the presence of cofactors. While fibrillary aggregates are nowadays considered nontoxic, oligomeric/granular (nonfibrillary) aggregates have been found to be toxic.

Design simulations of a horizontally deflecting high-heat-load monochromator.

The performance of a liquid-nitrogen-cooled high-heat-load monochromator with a horizontal scattering plane has been analysed, aiming to preserve the high quality of the X-ray beam in the vertical plane for downstream optics. Using finite-element analysis, height profiles of the crystal surface for various heat loads and the corresponding slope errors in the meridional and sagittal planes were calculated. Then the angular distortions of the reflected beam in both meridional and sagittal planes were calculated analytically and also modelled by ray tracing, revealing a good agreement of the two approaches.

Insights into the composition of ancient Egyptian red and black inks on papyri achieved by synchrotron-based microanalyses.

A hitherto unknown composition is highlighted in the red and black inks preserved on ancient Egyptian papyri from the Roman period (circa 100 to 200 CE). Synchrotron-based macro-X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping brings to light the presence of iron (Fe) and lead (Pb) compounds in the majority of the red inks inscribed on 12 papyrus fragments from the Tebtunis temple library. The iron-based compounds in the inks can be assigned to ocher, notably due to the colocalization of Fe with aluminum, and the detection of hematite (FeO) by micro-X-ray diffraction.

Effect of phosphorus supply on root traits of two Brassica oleracea L. genotypes.

Background: Phosphorus (P) deficiency limits crop production worldwide. Crops differ in their ability to acquire and utilise the P available. The aim of this study was to determine root traits (root exudates, root system architecture (RSA), tissue-specific allocation of P, and gene expression in roots) that (a) play a role in P-use efficiency and (b) contribute to large shoot zinc (Zn) concentration in Brassica oleracea.

A hierarchical approach for modeling X-ray beamlines: application to a coherent beamline.

Different approaches to simulate a modern X-ray beamline are considered. Several methodologies with increasing complexity are applied to discuss the relevant parameters that quantify the beamline performance. Parameters such as flux, dimensions and intensity distribution of the focused beam, and coherence properties are obtained from simple analytical calculations to sophisticated computer simulations using ray-tracing and wave optics techniques.

Blood mononuclear cells as speculum of emotional stress analyzed by synchrotron infrared spectroscopy and a nootropic drug.

Chronic psychological stress is an important public health issue which generates behavioral changes, anxiety, immunosuppression and oxidative damage. Piracetam is a cognitive enhancer, at cellular level it protects from oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of psychological stress and of piracetam on circulating mononuclear cells by analyzing the biochemical spectrome using Synchrotron Radiation Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy (SR-μFTIR).

Characterization, optimization and surface physics aspects of in situ plasma mirror cleaning.

Although the graphitic carbon contamination of synchrotron beamline optics has been an obvious problem for several decades, the basic mechanisms underlying the contamination process as well as the cleaning/remediation strategies are not understood and the corresponding cleaning procedures are still under development. In this study an analysis of remediation strategies all based on in situ low-pressure RF plasma cleaning approaches is reported, including a quantitative determination of the optimum process parameters and their influence on the chemistry as well as the morphology of optical test surfaces. It appears that optimum results are obtained for a specific pressure range as well as for specific combinations of the plasma feedstock gases, the latter depending on the chemical aspects of the optical surfaces to be cleaned.