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USA's super-duper hypersonic missile is big nothing compared to Russia's new weapons

Guided hypersonic weapons have given Russia absolute leadership in the field of the development of strategic weapons. No other country in the world, save for, possibly, China, has hypersonic missiles in service. Military analysts do not have any reliable data about China's new weapons. Russia has at least three types of missiles capable of causing irreparable damage to any potential aggressor.Reference: Avangard hypersonic system is capable of developing the speed of up to Mach 28. The system currently uses the Stilett silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile as a carrier. In the future, the new prospective intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat is to be used for the purpose. For the time being, Russia has four such systems on alert. A missile like that is capable of flying from Saratov to New York in 18 minutes. The H-47M2 missile of the Kinzhal (Dagger) complex develops a speed of 12,250 km/h, has a combat range of 3,000 kilometers. Its carrier is the MiG 31K high-altitude fighter-interceptor aircraft. To date, Russia has made several hundreds of Kinzhal missiles. The Zircon is the anti-ship missile. It accelerates to Mach 8. Currently, one Russian warship can carry up to 20 Zircon missiles. At the same time, according to open data, at least several hundred units of these missiles have been produced. During naval exercises held in the White Sea this year, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate launched the Zircon missile that successfully struck the target at a distance of over 350 km. As one can see, all types of Russian hypersonic missiles have already proven their combat effectiveness. At the same time, Russia does not stop here: Russian engineers already work on an air defense system to neutralize hypersonic weapons. Russia's Supreme Commander-in-Chief — President Putin that is — intrigued the world with his words that he said in 2020:




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Russia's new Kh-95 hypersonic missile ends the arms race with the United States

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, published an article in August of this year, in which he casually referred to Russia's state-of-the-art development in the field of hypersonic weapons — the X-95 aircraft missile (also can be spelled as Kh-95). Why would Russia need yet another hypersonic missile given that the country already has Zircon and Kinzhal missiles? According to Vladimir Zarudnitsky, Russia needs to strive to achieve the dominant role of the Russian aviation in the field of aerospace, and it would be impossible to achieve the goal without the effective use of fighter and strike aircraft. Needless to say that the successful destruction of anti-aircraft, aviation and nuclear missile groups of a potential enemy is crucial for victory in any military operation. To achieve military superiority, it is vital for Russia to always be prepared to:




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Mason County Courthouse arsonist found guilty

A McCulloch County jury this week found Nicholas Miller guilty of starting fires at the historic Mason County Courthouse and an occupied residential structure on February 4, 2021.




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Suspected serial arsonist arrested in Snyder

Snyder law enforcement officials last week arrested Daniel Allen Jr.




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Wife of former San Antonio trucking magnate sentenced in multi-million-dollar fraud scheme

Frances Hall, former co-owner of Bill Hall Jr. Trucking, has been sentenced for her role in a scheme to avoid $9 million in workers’ compensation premiums.




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Iconic monument to be removed from Moscow's Red Square

The State Historical Museum and the Russian Historical Society announced the all-Russian campaign to raise funds to restore the monument to Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. The iconic monument, commonly known as Monument to Minin and Pozharsky, stands in front of the St. Bazil's Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square. The monument was the first sculptural piece that was erected in Moscow on Red Square 200 years ago in honour of the victory of the Russian militia over foreign interventionists in 1612.On February 20, 1818 in a solemn atmosphere, Emperor Alexander I and members of the imperial family unveiled the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square. In the summer of 1931, the monument became a hindrance to demonstrations and parades, so it was moved from its historical site, from opposite the Upper trading rows, to the facade of the Intercession Cathedral. During this movement, the structure of the monument was damaged.In late 2016, the maintenance of the monument was delivered to the State Historical Museum. Experts examined the monument and came to conclusion that it required serious restoration is required. The works were preliminary evaluated at 46 million rubles.Within a year, the sculptural group will be dismantled from the pedestal on Red Square to be  transported to workshops, where the sculptures and the bas-reliefs of the monument will be restored.




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Avangard hypersonic vehicle creates plasma while flying to target like fireball

When flying at full speed, Russia's state-of-the-art Avangard hypersonic vehicle is invisible to radar. “This is the only hypersonic unit in the world that can be used at intercontinental range and has a speed of Mach 28. In a nutshell, this is  a vehicle to deliver conventional or nuclear weapons that flies in the form of a fireball as its surface heats up to colossal temperatures at such speed producing plasma on the surface of the vehicle,” Yuri Knutov military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces Yuri Knutov told lenta.ru publication.  Plasma absorbs electromagnetic radiation making the unit invisible to radar, the expert added. 




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The risk of breaking electronic devices rises 24% over Easter, new data reveals

New data has revealed that there’s a 24% rise in Brits dealing with broken laptops, tablets and phones over the Easter break each year, making it the riskiest holiday for devices.




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Customer adoption of Bitsight cloud monitoring grows 170% amid increased demand for Visibility Across digital infrastructure

Bitsight, the cyber risk management solutions provider, has introduced new asset mapping capabilities to help companies better manage vulnerabilities across their extended attack surface.




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Revolutionising retail transactions with SoftPoS

By Brad Hyett, CEO at phos.

SoftPoS, also known as Software Point of Sale, is a software-based solution enabling merchants to convert their NFC-enabled smartphones or tablets into functional payment terminals.




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The Rise of Omnichannel Retail: Revolutionizing the Point-of-Sale Experience with AI

By Ryan Edwards, freelance writer.

Omnichannel is one of the most effective retail strategies for engaging customers, driving sales, and building lasting relationships. A way to strengthen this game-changing approach is the revolutionary power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).




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Contactless Touch Screens – “Untact” TFT LCD Kiosk Monitors

Most of us have used a self-service, multi-user kiosk at some point in our lives, to purchase train tickets, to select our burger at a fast food restaurant, to pay for parking in a multi-story car park, to check-in at a hospital or airport to name just a few.

The question is, will COVID-19, or possibly some future virus strain make people reluctant about using these now necessary machines




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How do electronic shelf labels work ?

By Adrian Stokes, freelance writer.

Ever wondered how some retail stores seamlessly update their product prices in real-time, avoiding the hassle of manually switching out paper tags on shelves? Discover how electronic shelf labels work and how they can boost your sales and customer satisfaction.




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Creationists and Dmanisi

Three new hominid skulls from Dmanisi cover the gap that creationist Marvin Lubenow claims separates humans from apes. How does Lubenow handle them in the new edition of his book Bones of Contention?




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How Old is the Earth: A Response to "Scientific" Creationism

Added January 10, 2006: A classic and often-referenced 1984 paper by G. Brent Dalrymple. The paper contains short but accurate expositions of radiometric dating methods and discussions of creationist criticisms and attempts to date the Earth as young. It includes material difficult to find elsewhere, such as the discussion of mixing isochrons and the effect of neutron-capture reactions. Dr. Dalrymple is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a winner of the National Medal of Science, a former president of the American Geophysical Union, and the author of The Age of the Earth




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March 2006 Post of the Month: The History of Creationism

Added April 13, 2006:




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Young-Earth Creationist Helium Diffusion "Dates": Fallacies Based on Bad Assumptions and Questionable Data

Updated July 25, 2006: Young-Earth creationists consider the helium diffusion studies of D. Russell Humphreys and others to be one of their greatest achievements in arguing for a 6,000 year old Earth. A geologist shows that these studies are extensively flawed and include: serious miscalculations in their data, sampling the wrong rock type, failing to eliminate possible contamination, using equations that are based on invalid assumptions and relying on questionable data. Appendices C and D have been added in response to Dr. Humphreys' most recent statements in his January 2006 "Trueorigins" essay.




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Hendren v. Campbell: Decision Against a Creationist Textbook

Added August 20, 2006: A 1977 decision of an Indiana superior court ruling against a textbook produced by the Creation Research Society. In some respects this case resembles a young-earth creationist version of the 2005 Kitzmiller case. Introductory material, links, as well as the full text of the judge's memorandum opinion are provided.




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AI-Media and Speechmatics announce strategic partnership to evolve captioning and Language services technologies

AI-Media - the global provider of audiovisual encoding technology and AI-driven transcription and translation solutions, and Speechmatics - the provider of speech recognition technology, have announced a strategic expansion of their multi-year partnership to deliver new and better AI-driven products to market.




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TrusTrace spotlights ‘Data-Driven Decarbonisation’ at COP29: Navigating Fashion’s Path to Net Zero

TrusTrace, a global SaaS company with a platform for product traceability and supply chain compliance in fashion and retail, host a key session at COP29 entitled, ‘Data-Driven Decarbonisation: Navigating Fashion’s Path to Net Zero’ on November 16th from 13.00-13.40 at the Swedish Pavilion, C17, COP29 Blue Zone. 




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How New Therapies Are Revolutionizing the Treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

The use of biologic and targeted therapies for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) surpassed more typical therapies in recent years, according to Rutgers Health researchers.




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The Study Explores the Impact of Sterilization Methods on Aronia Juice Quality

A research team has conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of various sterilization methods on the quality of Aronia melanocarpa juice (AMJ).




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How New Therapies Are Revolutionizing the Treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

The use of biologic and targeted therapies for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) surpassed more typical therapies in recent years, according to Rutgers Health researchers.




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The Study Explores the Impact of Sterilization Methods on Aronia Juice Quality

A research team has conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of various sterilization methods on the quality of Aronia melanocarpa juice (AMJ).




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Ex-Nat'l Security Advisor Warns US Isolationism Could Intensify under 2nd Trump Term

[Politics] :
John Bolton, former national security advisor under the first Donald Trump administration, warned that U.S. isolationism is expected to further intensify as Trump returns to office for a second term. In an interview with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun a day before the election on Monday and published on ...

[more...]




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'Exhuma,' 'Handsome Guys' Win Prizes at 57th Sitges Int'l Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia

[Culture] :
Two South Korean films, "Exhuma" and "Handsome Guys," won prizes at the 57th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Spain. According to the South Korean film distributor Showbox on Tuesday, director Jang Jae-hyun's occult thriller "Exhuma," which was invited to the official competition ...

[more...]




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Scallions vs. Green Onions: What's the Difference?

You've probably seen people and recipes use the terms "scallions" and "green onions" interchangeably — and for once, the conflation is correct. When it comes to distinguishing scallions vs. green onions, these terms describe the same vegetable.




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Unionized Seoul Subway Workers to Vote Friday Whether to Launch Strike

[Economy] :
Unionized Seoul subway workers will vote on Friday to decide whether they should launch a general strike as labor and management of Seoul's city-run subway operator are facing difficulty in negotiating wages and new hires. According to Seoul Metro, which operates subway Lines One through Eight and ...

[more...]





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Tracking anharmonic oscillations in the structure of β 1,3-diacetylpyrene

A recently discovered β polymorph of 1,3-diacetylpyrene has turned out to be a prominent negative thermal expansion material. Its unique properties can be linked to anharmonic oscillations in the crystal structure. The onset and development of anharmonic behavior have been successfully tracked over a wide temperature range by single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. Sufficient diffraction data quality combined with modern quantum crystallography tools allowed a thorough analysis of the elusive anharmonic effects for a moderate-scattering purely organic compound.




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Atypical phase transition, twinning and ferroelastic domain structure in bis(ethylenediammonium) tetrabromozincate(II) bromide, [NH3(CH2)2NH3]2[ZnBr4]Br2

A unique phase transition, twinning and ferroelastic domain structure in [NH3(CH2)2NH3]2[ZnBr4]Br2 is found. The new additional domain structure is observed at the phase transition on heating, which is preserved after cooling to room temperature.




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Structures of hexa­methyl-[1,1'-bi­phenyl]-4,4'-di­ammonium salts

The structures of nine hexa­methyl-[1,1'-bi­phenyl]-4,4'-di­ammonium (HMB) salts are described




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Atypical phase transition, twinning and ferroelastic domain structure in bis(ethylenediammonium) tetrabromozincate(II) bromide, [NH3(CH2)2NH3]2[ZnBr4]Br2

Single-crystal growth, differential thermal analysis (DTA), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray structural studies and polarized microscopy observations of bis(ethylenediammonium) tetrabromozincate(II) bromide [NH3(CH2)2NH3]2[ZnBr4]Br2 are presented. A reversible phase transition is described. At room temperature, the complex crystallizes in the monoclinic system. In some cases, the single crystals are twinned into two or more large domains of ferroelastic type with domain walls in the (100) crystallographic plane. DTA and DTG measurements show chemical stability of the crystal up to ∼538 K. In the DSC studies, a reversible isostructural phase transition was revealed at ∼526/522 K on heating/cooling run, respectively. Optical observation on the heating run reveals that at the phase transition the plane of twinning (domain wall) does not disappear and additionally the appearance of a new domain structure of ferroelastic type with domain walls in the planes (101), (101), (100) and (001) is observed. The domain structure pattern is preserved after cooling to the room-temperature phase and the symmetry of this phase is unchanged.




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Structure of the outer membrane porin OmpW from the pervasive pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae

Conjugation is the process by which plasmids, including those that carry antibiotic-resistance genes, are mobilized from one bacterium (the donor) to another (the recipient). The conjugation efficiency of IncF-like plasmids relies on the formation of mating-pair stabilization via intimate interactions between outer membrane proteins on the donor (a plasmid-encoded TraN isoform) and recipient bacteria. Conjugation of the R100-1 plasmid into Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) recipients relies on pairing between the plasmid-encoded TraNα in the donor and OmpW in the recipient. Here, the crystal structure of K. pneumoniae OmpW (OmpWKP) is reported at 3.2 Å resolution. OmpWKP forms an eight-stranded β-barrel flanked by extracellular loops. The structures of E. coli OmpW (OmpWEC) and OmpWKP show high conservation despite sequence variability in the extracellular loops.




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Structures of Brucella ovis leucine-, isoleucine-, valine-, threonine- and alanine-binding protein reveal a conformationally flexible peptide-binding cavity

Brucella ovis is an etiologic agent of ovine epididymitis and brucellosis that causes global devastation in sheep, rams, goats, small ruminants and deer. There are no cost-effective methods for the worldwide eradication of ovine brucellosis. B. ovis and other protein targets from various Brucella species are currently in the pipeline for high-throughput structural analysis at the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), with the aim of identifying new therapeutic targets. Furthermore, the wealth of structures generated are effective tools for teaching scientific communication, structural science and biochemistry. One of these structures, B. ovis leucine-, isoleucine-, valine-, threonine- and alanine-binding protein (BoLBP), is a putative periplasmic amino acid-binding protein. BoLBP shares less than 29% sequence identity with any other structure in the Protein Data Bank. The production, crystallization and high-resolution structures of BoLBP are reported. BoLBP is a prototypical bacterial periplasmic amino acid-binding protein with the characteristic Venus flytrap topology of two globular domains encapsulating a large central cavity containing the peptide-binding region. The central cavity contains small molecules usurped from the crystallization milieu. The reported structures reveal the conformational flexibility of the central cavity in the absence of bound peptides. The structural similarity to other LBPs can be exploited to accelerate drug repurposing.




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Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DFT and mol­ecular docking studies of ethyl 5-amino-2-bromo­isonicotinate

Theoretical and experimental structural studies of the title compound were undertaken using X-ray and DFT methods. The inter­actions present in the crystal were analyzed using Hirshfeld surface and MEP surface analysis. Docking studies with a covid-19 main protease (PDB ID: 6LU7) as the target receptor indicate that the synthesized compound may be a potential candidate for pharmaceutical applications.




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Stability of inorganic ionic structures: the uniformity approach

The crystal structure uniformity is numerically estimated as the standard deviation of the crystal space quantizer 〈G3〉. This criterion has been applied to explore the uniformity of ionic sublattices in 21465 crystal structures of inorganic ionic compounds. In most cases, at least one kind of sublattice (whole ionic lattice, cationic or anionic sublattice) was found to be highly uniform with a small 〈G3〉 value. Non-uniform structures appeared to be either erroneous or essentially non-ionic. As a result, a set of uniformity criteria is proposed for the estimation of the stability of ionic crystal structures.




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Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DFT and molecular docking studies of ethyl 5-amino-2-bromoisonicotinate

In the title compound, C8H9BrN2O2, the C—O—C—C torsion angle between isonicotine and the ethyl group is 180.0 (2)°. Intramolecular N—H...O and C—H...O interactions consolidate the molecular structure. In the crystal, N—H...N interaction form S(5) zigzag chains along [010]. The most significant contributions to the Hirshfeld surface arise from H...H (33.2%), Br...H/H...Br (20.9%), O...H/H...O (11.2%), C...H/H...C (11.1%) and N...H/H...N (10%) contacts. The topology of the three-dimensional energy frameworks was generated using the B3LYP/6–31 G(d,p) model to calculate the total interaction energy. The net interaction energies for the title compound are Eele = 59.2 kJ mol−1, Epol = 15.5 kJ mol−1, Edis = 140.3 kJ mol−1 and Erep = 107.2 kJ mol−1 with a total interaction energy Etot of 128.8 kJ mol−1. The molecular structure was optimized by density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6–311+G(d,p) level and the theoretical and experimentally obtained parameters were compared. The frontier molecular orbitals HOMO and LUMO were generated, giving an energy gap ΔE of 4.0931 eV. The MEP was generated to identify active sites in the molecule and molecular docking studies carried out with the title compound (ligand) and the covid-19 main protease PDB ID: 6LU7, revealing a moderate binding affinity of −5.4 kcal mol−1.




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Extracting the electronic structure signal from X-ray and electron scattering in the gas phase

X-ray and electron scattering from free gas-phase molecules is examined using the independent atom model (IAM) and ab initio electronic structure calculations. The IAM describes the effect of the molecular geometry on the scattering, but does not account for the redistribution of valence electrons due to, for instance, chemical bonding. By examining the total, i.e. energy-integrated, scattering from three molecules, fluoroform (CHF3), 1,3-cyclohexadiene (C6H8) and naphthalene (C10H8), the effect of electron redistribution is found to predominantly reside at small-to-medium values of the momentum transfer (q ≤ 8 Å−1) in the scattering signal, with a maximum percent difference contribution at 2 ≤ q ≤ 3 Å−1. A procedure to determine the molecular geometry from the large-q scattering is demonstrated, making it possible to more clearly identify the deviation of the scattering from the IAM approximation at small and intermediate q and to provide a measure of the effect of valence electronic structure on the scattering signal.




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Enhancing electrospray ionization efficiency for particle transmission through an aerodynamic lens stack

This work investigates the performance of the electrospray aerosol generator at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (EuXFEL). This generator is, together with an aerodynamic lens stack that transports the particles into the X-ray interaction vacuum chamber, the method of choice to deliver particles for single-particle coherent diffractive imaging (SPI) experiments at the EuXFEL. For these experiments to be successful, it is necessary to achieve high transmission of particles from solution into the vacuum interaction region. Particle transmission is highly dependent on efficient neutralization of the charged aerosol generated by the electrospray mechanism as well as the geometry in the vicinity of the Taylor cone. We report absolute particle transmission values for different neutralizers and geometries while keeping the conditions suitable for SPI experiments. Our findings reveal that a vacuum ultraviolet ionizer demonstrates a transmission efficiency approximately seven times greater than the soft X-ray ionizer used previously. Combined with an optimized orifice size on the counter electrode, we achieve >40% particle transmission from solution into the X-ray interaction region. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing electrospray aerosol generator configurations and data rates for SPI experiments.




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Hard X-ray operation of X-ray gas monitors at the European XFEL

X-ray gas monitors (XGMs) are operated at the European XFEL for non-invasive single-shot pulse energy measurements and average beam-position monitoring. The underlying measurement principle is the photo-ionization of rare gas atoms at low gas pressures and the detection of the photo-ions and photo-electrons created. These are essential for tuning and sustaining self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) operation, machine radiation safety, and sorting single-shot experimental data according to pulse energy. In this paper, the first results from XGM operation at photon energies up to 30 keV are presented, which are far beyond the original specification of this device. Here, the Huge Aperture MultiPlier (HAMP) is used for single-shot pulse energy measurements since the standard X-ray gas monitor detectors (XGMDs) do not provide a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, even at the highest operating gas pressures. A single-shot correlation coefficient of 0.98 is measured between consecutive XGMs operated with HAMP, which is as good as measuring with the standard XGMD detectors. An intra-train non-linearity of the HAMP signal is discovered, and operation parameters to mitigate this effect are studied. The upper repetition rate limit of HAMP operation at 2.25 MHz is also determined. Finally, the possibilities and limits for future XGM operation at photon energies up to 50 keV are discussed.




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Development of a portable and cost-effective femtosecond fibre laser synchronizable with synchrotron X-ray pulses

This study introduces a compact, portable femtosecond fibre laser system designed for synchronization with SPring-8 synchrotron X-ray pulses in a uniform filling mode. Unlike traditional titanium–sapphire mode-locked lasers, which are fixed installations, our system utilizes fibre laser technology to provide a practical alternative for time-resolved spectroscopy, striking a balance between usability, portability and cost-efficiency. Comprehensive evaluations, including pulse characterization, timing jitter and frequency stability tests revealed a centre wavelength of 1600 nm, a pulse energy of 4.5 nJ, a pulse duration of 35 fs with a timing jitter of less than 9 ps, confirming the suitability of the system for time-resolved spectroscopic studies. This development enhances the feasibility of experiments that combine synchrotron X-rays and laser pulses, offering significant scientific contributions by enabling more flexible and diverse research applications.




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Development and commissioning of a broadband online X-ray spectrometer for the SXFEL Facility

A broadband online X-ray spectrometer has been designed and commissioned at the SUD beamline of the Shanghai Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility, which can deliver both SASE and seeded FEL pulses to user experiments, spanning the photon energy range of 50–620 eV. The resolving powers of the spectrometer calibrated via online measurement at 92 eV and 249 eV are ∼20000 and ∼15000, respectively, and the absolute photon energy is characterized by an electron time-of-flight spectrometer. The high energy resolution provided by the spectrometer can differentiate the fine structure in the FEL spectrum, to determine its pulse length.




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Development of an X-ray ionization beam position monitor for PAL-XFEL soft X-rays

The Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free-Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL) operates hard X-ray and soft X-ray beamlines for conducting scientific experiments providing intense ultrashort X-ray pulses based on the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process. The X-ray free-electron laser is characterized by strong pulse-to-pulse fluctuations resulting from the SASE process. Therefore, online photon diagnostics are very important for rigorous measurements. The concept of photo-absorption and emission using solid materials is seldom considered in soft X-ray beamline diagnostics. Instead, gas monitoring detectors, which utilize the photo-ionization of noble gas, are employed for monitoring the beam intensity. To track the beam position at the soft X-ray beamline in addition to those intensity monitors, an X-ray ionization beam position monitor (XIBPM) has been developed and characterized at the soft X-ray beamline of PAL-XFEL. The XIBPM utilizes ionization of either the residual gas in an ultra-high-vacuum environment or injected krypton gas, along with a microchannel plate with phosphor. The XIBPM was tested separately for monitoring horizontal and vertical beam positions, confirming the feasibility of tracking relative changes in beam position both on average and down to single-shot measurements. This paper presents the basic structure and test results of the newly developed non-invasive XIBPM.




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Hyperspectral full-field quick-EXAFS imaging at the ROCK beamline for monitoring micrometre-sized heterogeneity of functional materials under process conditions

Full-field transmission X-ray microscopy has been recently implemented at the hard X-ray ROCK–SOLEIL quick-EXAFS beamline, adding micrometre spatial resolution to the second time resolution characterizing the beamline. Benefiting from a beam size versatility due to the beamline focusing optics, full-field hyperspectral XANES imaging has been successfully used at the Fe K-edge for monitoring the pressure-induced spin transition of a 150 µm × 150 µm Fe(o-phen)2(NCS)2 single crystal and the charge of millimetre-sized LiFePO4 battery electrodes. Hyperspectral imaging over 2000 eV has been reported for the simultaneous monitoring of Fe and Cu speciation changes during activation of a FeCu bimetallic catalyst along a millimetre-sized catalyst bed. Strategies of data acquisition and post-data analysis using Jupyter notebooks and multivariate data analysis are presented, and the gain obtained using full-field hyperspectral quick-EXAFS imaging for studies of functional materials under process conditions in comparison with macroscopic information obtained by non-spatially resolved quick-EXAFS techniques is discussed.




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Aqua­bis­(2,2'-bi­pyridine-κ2N,N')(isonicotinamide-κN)ruthenium(II) bis­(trifluoromethanesulfonate)

In the title complex, [Ru(C10H8N2)2(C6H6N2O)(H2O)](CF3SO3)2, the central RuII atom is sixfold coordinated by two bidentate 2,2'-bi­pyridine, an isonic­otinamide ligand, and a water mol­ecule in a distorted octa­hedral environment with tri­fluoro­methane­sulfonate ions completing the outer coordination sphere of the complex. Hydrogen bonding involving the water mol­ecule and weak π–π stacking inter­actions between the pyridyl rings in adjacent mol­ecules contribute to the alignment of the complexes in columns parallel to the c axis.




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Octa­kis(di­butyl­ammonium) deca­molybdate(VI)

In the title salt, (C8H20N)8[Mo10O34], the [Mo10O34]8− polyanion is located about an inversion centre and can be considered as a β-type octa­molybdate anion to which two additional MoO4 tetra­hedra are linked via common corners. The [Mo10O34]8− polyanions are packed in rows extending parallel to [001] and are connected to the di­butyl­ammonium counter-cations through N—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions.




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Bis(ethyl­enedi­ammonium) μ-ethyl­enedi­aminetetra­acetato-1κ3O,N,O':2κ3O'',N',O'''-bis­[tri­oxidomolybdate(VI)] tetra­hydrate

The title compound, (C2H10N2)2[(C10H12N2O8)(MoO3)2]·4H2O, which crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group, was obtained by mixing molybdenum oxide, ethyl­enedi­amine and ethyl­enedi­amine­tetra­acetic acid (H4edta) in a 2:4:1 ratio. The complex anion contains two MoO3 units bridged by an edta4− anion. The midpoint of the central C—C bond of the edta4− anion is located on a crystallographic inversion centre. The independent Mo atom is tridentately coordin­ated by a nitro­gen atom and two carboxyl­ate groups of the edta4− ligand, together with the three oxo ligands, producing a distorted octa­hedral coordination environment. In the three-dimensional supra­molecular crystal structure, the dinuclear anions, the organo­ammonium counter-ions and the solvent water mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯Ow, N—H⋯Oedta and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.




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Diisobutyl­ammonium tri­phenyl(2-thiolato­acetato-κ2O,S)stannate(IV)

Crystals of the title salt, (C8H20N)[Sn(C6H5)3(C2H2O2S)], comprise diisobutyl­ammonium cations and mercapto­acetato­tri­phenyl­stannate(IV) anions. The bidentate binding mode of the mercapto­acetate ligand gives rise to a five-coordinated, ionic tri­phenyl­tin complex with a distorted cis-trigonal–bipyramidal geometry around the tin atom. In the crystal, charge-assisted ammonium-N—H⋯O(carboxyl­ate) hydrogen-bonding connects two cations and two anions into a four-ion aggregate. Two positions were resolved for one of the phenyl rings with the major component having a site occupancy factor of 0.60 (3).




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α-d-2'-De­oxy­adenosine, an irradiation product of canonical DNA and a com­ponent of anomeric nucleic acids: crystal structure, packing and Hirshfeld surface analysis

α-d-2'-De­oxy­ribonucleosides are products of the γ-irradiation of DNA under oxygen-free conditions and are constituents of anomeric DNA. They are not found as natural building blocks of canonical DNA. Reports on their conformational properties are limited. Herein, the single-crystal X-ray structure of α-d-2'-de­oxy­adenosine (α-dA), C10H13N5O3, and its conformational parameters were determined. In the crystalline state, α-dA forms two conformers in the asymmetric unit which are connected by hydro­gen bonds. The sugar moiety of each conformer is arranged in a `clamp'-like fashion with respect to the other conformer, forming hydro­gen bonds to its nucleobase and sugar residue. For both conformers, a syn conformation of the nucleobase with respect to the sugar moiety was found. This is contrary to the anti conformation usually preferred by α-nucleosides. The sugar conformation of both conformers is C2'-endo, and the 5'-hydroxyl groups are in a +sc orientation, probably due to the hydro­gen bonds formed by the conformers. The formation of the supra­molecular assembly of α-dA is controlled by hydro­gen bonding and stacking inter­actions, which was verified by a Hirshfeld and curvedness surface analysis. Chains of hydro­gen-bonded nucleobases extend parallel to the b direction and are linked to equivalent chains by hydro­gen bonds involving the sugar moieties to form a sheet. A com­parison of the solid-state structures of the anomeric 2'-de­oxy­adenosines revealed significant differences of their conformational parameters.