Inaugural business meeting and symposium at the Biophysical Society 60th Annual Meeting.

ECMS 2015 will deal with mineralogy, spectroscopy and related fields of science, with a special focus on the interplay between short-range and long-range information to account for crystalline and amorphous materials physical properties.

The Conference will bring together both theoretically and experimentally oriented scientists, providing them with an opportunity to share ideas and learn from one another.

The ICTMS 2015 is the biannual conference of the IntACT (International Association of Computed Tomography).

This four full day congress is dedicated to CT-Scanning for non-medical applications. The 2nd International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures will bring together an international group of scientists to discuss a broad range of issues related to the use of computed tomography in materials and structures and all its related topics.

• X-ray and neutron tomography acquisition hardware, software and set-ups.
• Recent advances in CT imaging.
• Case studies including applications on miscellaneous materials and structures.

Presentations will be made within 2 parallel oral sessions. Contributions from universities, government and industry are welcome.

Themes

Themes of the congress encompass, but are not limited to, the following topics:

1Â X-Ray and Neutron Tomography, acquisition hardware, software and set-up.

• 1.1 â€" Synchrotron. (Chairmen: Robert Winarski & Jan Carmeliet)
  
• 1.2 â€" Micro-CT. (Chairmen: Matthieu Boone, Jan Van den Bulcke & Adrian Sheppard)
  
• 1.3 â€" Interferometry. (Chairmen: Leslie Butler & Francesco De Carlo)
• 1.4 -Physics of X-Ray. (Chairmen: Philippe Després & Giovani Grasselli)
  

2 â€" Recent Advance in CT & Synchrotron Imaging

• 2.1 â€" Advance in reconstruction algorithms. (Chairman: Andrew Kingston) Â
  
• 2.2 â€" Geotechnic. (Chairmen : Jacques Desrues & Stephen Hall)
  
• 2.3 â€" Multi-tissue quantitative Imaging technique. (Chairmen : Eric Landis & Sabine Rolland de Roscoat)
  
• 2.4 â€" 3D imaging. (Chairmen : Dominique Bernard & Khalid Alshibi)Â
  
• 2.5 â€" Developing image analysis tools for synchrotron imaging and microscopy. (Chairmen : Xianghui Xiao & Ross Harder)

3 â€" Case studies

• 3.1 â€" Hydraulics and sediment transport. (Chairmen : William Arnott & Bernard Long)
  
• 3.2 â€" Geomaterial, Materials, Structures and Mineralogy. (Chairmen : Jean-Yves Buffière & Yosuke Higo)
  
• 3.3 â€" Wood. (Chairmen : Dominique Derome, Jan Van den Bulke & Gabor Szathmary)
  
• 3.4 â€" Sedimentology and Palaeontology. (Chairmen : Richard Ketcham & Patric Jacobs)
• 3.5 â€" Quaternary Deposits. (Chairmen : Pierre Francus & Mathieu Duchesne)Â
• 3.6 â€" Innovative ;Geotechnical Applications. (Chairmen : Jun Otani, Gioacchino Viggiani & Didier Perret)
• 3.7 â€" Rock porosity and gas sequestration. (Chairmen : Patrick Selvadurai & Michel Malo)
• 3.8 â€" Concrete & building rocks. (Chairmen : Jacques Marchand & Veerle Cnudde)
• 3.9 â€" Porous Material. (Chairmen : Nicolas Lenoir & Takafumi Sugiyama)
  
• 3.10 â€" Hydrogeology, water infiltration and pollution. (Chairmen: Richard Martel, Subhasis Ghoshal)
• 3.11 â€" Archaeology. (Chairmen : Réginald Auger & Geneviève Treyvaud)
• 3.12 â€" Biogenic sedimentary structure and dynamics: marine, fresh water, and terrestrial systems. (Chairmen : Robert Aller & Emma Michaud)
• 3.13 â€" Petroleum core analysis. (Chairmen : Mike London & Caliskan Sinan)

The main topics of this symposium are:

• Biomineralization and the structure of biominerals
• Analytical techniques and methods in biomineralization
• Bioinspired materials and applications
• Biomimetic synthesis
• Modelling in biomineralization
• Pathological biomineralization
• Genetics and biomineralization

The conference is organised by the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences, a group of multi-disciplinary research laboratories administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Sciences and Technology (DST) of the Republic of South Africa

The PIXE conference is a biennial event with a long tradition of being the international forum to discuss recent developments and future prospects in particle induced X-ray spectrometry. The conference brings together physicists and scientists from different fields of application including biology and medicine, environmental and earth sciences, cultural heritage and materials research.

Topics

• Fundamental processes of ionisation, X-ray emission and absorption
• Fundamental parameter
• PIXE software
• PIXE methodology and facilities
• PIXE of complex and layered samples (mapping, depth profiling)
• Confocal PIXE and PIXE tomography
• Atmospheric aerosols
• Environmental and earth sciences
• Extra-terrestrial applications
• Biology and medicine
• Forensic science
• Archaeometry and Cultural Heritage
• Materials Science

In 2015 the 6th DTTG workshop on qualitative and quantitative analysis of clays and clay minerals will take place from 09 March to 13 March 2015 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus North. Â The workshop focuses on the needs of graduate students and PhD students in the field of clay science. The workshop is also open for scientists and people working in industry who are interested in clay science. The workshop will be consist of theoretical lectures and laboratory exercises.

The Australian Synchrotron's annual User Meeting showcases some of the best research and investigations undertaken at the facility, and provides our user community with updates on the latest developments and technical advances in synchrotron science, both at home and at our sister light sources overseas. Organised by the Australian Synchrotron User Advisory Committee, the 2014 meeting will again be held at the award-winning National Centre for Synchrotron Science (NCSS).

Topics:

• Advanced Materials
• Beamlines, Instrumentation and Techniques
• Biological Systems
• Earth and Environment
• Energy Materials
• Imaging
• Radiotherapy and Radiobiology
• Soft Matter
• Structural Biology
• Surface Science

Â

Professor David L. Bish
Geological Sciences, Indiana University.

Tuesday 4 November 2014
5.30pm (followed by a networking reception at 6.30pm)

Mars has been a subject of fascination and active study since at least the 19th century, and its surface and atmosphere have been analysed remotely by optical and spectroscopic methods. The two Viking landers, launched in 1975, ushered in a new era of in situ exploration of Mars, which has continued sporadically since that time. Studies of the surface of Mars culminated in two very successful landed missions, the Mars Exploration Rovers (landed in 2004) and Mars Science Laboratory (landed in 2012). Tremendous technological innovations have come from these missions, but our advances are far greater than these and include new ways to look at our own Earth.

Identification of crystalline materials with the polarized light microscope is of importance for those working in forensics, soil science, pharmaceuticals, environmental analyses, analysis of pigments, and earth sciences. This class introduces the student to a range of methods used for the identification of crystalline materials. A number of techniques are employed or demonstrated, including immersion methods, crystal rotation methods and the use of rotating compensators. Optical properties of both isotropic and anisotropic comminuted mineral samples are used as examples throughout the course.

Course Outline:

Introduction

Crystal systems and symmetry; review of Miller indices

Properties of light and polarized light; dispersion

Refraction and Snell's law; velocity vs refraction; relief

Isotropic and anisotropic substances, and the relation of crystal symmetry to optical properties; calcite experiment

Anisotropic optics: Extinction, retardation, phase interference phenomena, birefringence, extinction

The petrographic microscope; components, and adjustment for orthoscopic and conoscopic observation.

Properties observable with the petrographic microscope: Twinning, pleochroism, cleavage, birefringence, sign of elongation, extinction angles; relation to crystal symmetry, anomalous interference colors, interference figures.

Formation of interference figures: Optic axis, off-center optic axis, Bxa, Bxo, optic normal (flash), random figures; use of angle of entry and exit of hyperbola (AEEH) to diagnose centered figures. Recognition of interference figures and application to interpretation of crystal orientation in uniaxial and biaxial minerals: Optic sign; determination using both a waveplate and a quartz wedge, optic angle (2V) and relation to indices of refraction in biaxial minerals, optic axis dispersion; crossed axial plane dispersion

Refractometry: Identification of crystalline materials using calibrated index liquids and the colored Becke line; cause of Becke line colors.

Properties of the more important rock-forming and accessory minerals in thin section: Silica-group minerals; polymorphs of SiO₂, feldspar minerals; K-spar and plagioclase groups, amphibole- and pyroxene-group minerals, phyllosilicates, carbonates, accessory minerals.

Advanced methods of crystal identification: Measurement of retardation by use of rotary compensators, spindle stage, universal stage.

Ore microscopy: Demonstration of basic optical properties (reflectance, bireflectance, anisotropism, reflection pleochroism, Kalb line, etc.) that can be measured in reflected light, and their application to identifying opaque minerals or characterizing metallurgical samples; comparison of the properties of reflected and transmitted light.

Minerals at Focal Point

The conference aims at bringing together researchers from all fields of our multifaceted discipline mineralogy. The meeting program advertises thus a wide range of topics in or at the crossroads of the fields crystallography, applied mineralogy, petrology, and geocosmochemistry.
The organization of the 2014 DMG meeting coincides with the 100th anniversary of the journal "Chemie der Erde/Geochemistry", which was originally founded in Jena. On the occasion of this event a special volume is under preparation that will be handed out to the attendees of the conference.
The meeting offers also a half-day excursion to the close-by former Uranium mining district at Ronneburg.

Main Topics

• geology of clays
• clay minerals in soils
• clays as industrial raw materials
• clays in geotechnical applications
• developments of analytical tools
• crystal structure and surface properties of clay minerals

Plenary and Keynote Speaker (preliminary)

• Anne-Claire Gaillot (Nantes/FR)
• Reinhard Gaupp (Jena/DE)
• Stephen Hillier (Aberdeen/UK)
• Mark Jensen (Toronto/CA)
• Johannes Lützenkirchen (Karlsruhe/DE)
• Fernando Nieto García (Granada/ES)
• Boris Sakharov (Moscow/RU)
• Andreas Voegelin (Dübendorf/CH)
• Mark Wilkinson (Edinburgh/UK)

This two day workshop held prior to the International Mineralogical Association will focus on theoretical and practical approaches to the derivation of Quantitative Phase Abundance (QPA) from powder diffraction data (with emphasis on laboratory-based X-ray diffraction).

Dear Colleagues,
You are cordially invited to participate in the 3rd International Conference on CRYSTALLOGENESIS AND MINERALOGY to be held in Novosibirsk, September 27 â€" October 1, 2013 at the resort complex “Sosnovka” located near Academy Town, one of the biggest Russian scientific centers where Novosibirsk State University and 35 research institutes are located.
The Conference will provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of recent research and development activities in fundamental and applied crystallogenesis and mineralogy. The scientific program will include both oral and poster sessions, as well as plenary and invited talks to provide a complete picture of the latest developments in the field. A satellite symposium “Deep carbon cycle: mineralogy and crystal chemistry of carbon-bearing compounds” and a post-conference Workshop “Frontiers of crystallography” are also planned.
The Conference is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Arkady E. Glikin (1943-2012) and to the 105th anniversary of Acad. Vladimir S. Sobolev (1908-1982). Â Nikolay Pokhilenko (Novosibirsk), Chair
Nikolay Sobolev (Novosibirsk), Chair
Juan Manuel García Ruiz (Granada), Co-chair
Elena Boldyreva (Novosibirsk), Co-chair

Dear Colleagues,
You are cordially invited to attend the XVII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY, X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES OF MINERALS to be held in Saint Petersburg State University on June 20-24, 2011. The conference is organized by the Commission on Crystal chemistry, X-ray diffraction and Spectroscopic Studies of Minerals of Russian Mineralogical Society, the Commission on Inorganic and Mineral Structures of International Union of Crystallography and St. Petersburg State University.Â

Planned sessionsÂ

• 1. General crystal chemistry of minerals and inorganic compoundsÂ
• 2. Structure â€" property relationshipsÂ
• 3. X-ray diffraction studies and structural typomorphism of minerals
• 4. Spectroscopic studies of mineralsÂ
• 5. High-temperature and high-pressure diffraction studiesÂ
• 6. X-ray diffraction studies of bio-minerals and technogenic productsÂ
• 7. Nano-minerals and methods of their studiesÂ

Forms of participation · Plenary lectures · Oral presentations · Poster presentationsÂ

The school will take place in Granada (Spain) from June 3th to June 6th, 2013. It will cover a wide range of topics related with the application of High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope in the investigation of minerals at nanoscale and include practical work by using the equipments of the Centro de Investigación Científica (CIC) of the University of Granada: Philips CM-20 and FEI Titan. Practical work also includes preparation of samples and interpretation of data.
The official language of the School will be English.
The School is addressed to:

• Postgraduate students
• Teachers
• Researchers
• Experts from industry

The number of participants is limited to 40 in order to keep operative the practical sessions. Admittance will be made on a first come, first serve basis.

Sponsors

The EMU school 2013 on Minerals at Nanoscale is mainly sponsored by the University of Granada, the Centro de Instrumentación Científica, FEI, the Spanish Mineralogical Society (Sociedad Española de Mineralogía, SEM), Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft (DMG) and Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (IACT)