bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A New Look at Cast Iron Microstructure
Authors: Radzikowska Janina M
Published: March 2018

Cast irons belong to a family of iron-carbon (Fe - C) alloys with free carbon in the form of graphite, a very soft constituent of iron microstructures, that improves machinability and damping properties of castings, or combined carbon, in the form of cementite, that improves wear resistance. Graphitic cast irons include grey iron, compacted iron, malleable iron, and ductile iron, Cementite irons include white cast iron and alloy cast irons. Solidification of graphite directly from molten metal takes place between 1145°C (2093 °F) and 1152 °C (2105 °F), according to the Fe-C equilibrium diagram. The above considerations regard only pure Fe - C alloys.
Support Films with Uniform Hole Size
Authors: Downing Kenneth H
Published: March 2018

Holey carbon films mounted on standard EM grids are routinely used as specimen supports in electron cryo-microscopy, Adroplet of the sample containing, for example, a suspension of virus particles or protein molecules, is applied to the grid, blotted to a thin layer and rapidly frozen. The particles are then imaged where the liquid spans the holes, without interference from an underlying carbon support film. Many recipes for holey films have been presented in the literature, generaiiy employing some method of forming bubbles in a layer of solvent in which a material is dissolved that then forms a discontinuous layer as the solvent evaporates.
Zigzag Edges in SEM Micrographs
Authors: Yang AF , Kaláb M
Published: March 2018

Multiple specimen holders make it possible to examine several (up to 7) specimens by SEM without the need to vent the microscope, replace the specimen, and evacuate the microscope again. Using such a holder in a Philips XL-30 ESEM frequently showed zigzagged outlines of bacteria obtained at magnifications higher than 10,000x. The zigzag outlines were not associated with charging artifacts as the filter edges were painted with a silver-based cement prior to gold coating. The severity of the zigzag lines varied from day to day. Sometimes they were barely noticeable whereas at other times they developed during a half-day session.
Electron Microscopy in Australia
Authors: Munroe Paul
Published: March 2018

In spite of its relatively small population, about 20 million people, Australia has, across a large number of fields, made significant contributions to science and technology. Expressed statistically, approximately 2.4% of published science research has its origins 'down-under'. Electron microscopy is no exception. Indeed, a significant number of pioneering developments in microscopy (and prominent microscopists) have originated from Australia. For example, early developments in environmental scanning electron microscopy had their birth at this university (through Viv Robinson and Gerry Danilatos) in the 1970's. Leading figures such as David Cockayne, John Cowley, John Spence. Michael O'Keefe once (still?) called Australia home.
Chemical Imaging with Infrared Microscopy
Authors: McCarthy William J
Published: March 2018

The ability of infrared microscopy to combine the chemical fingerprinting of FT-IR (Fourier Transform infrared) spectroscopy with the spatial resolving power of microscopy has led to its widespread use in numerous industries during the past two decades. The recent incorporation of imaging detectors into infrared microscopes has led to an increasing range of applications for the technique. The increase in spatial information provided by FT-IR imaging microscopes has also allowed image analysis techniques developed in light or electron microscopy to be utilized for the first time. This article will discuss FT-IR microspectroscopy and present some of the current applications.The ability of infrared microscopy to combine the chemical fingerprinting of FT-IR (Fourier Transform infrared) spectroscopy with the spatial resolving power of microscopy has led to its widespread use in numerous industries during the past two decades. The recent incorporation of imaging detectors into infrared microscopes has led to an increasing range of applications for the technique. The increase in spatial information provided by FT-IR imaging microscopes has also allowed image analysis techniques developed in light or electron microscopy to be utilized for the first time. This article will discuss FT-IR microspectroscopy and present some of the current applications.
A Novel High-Speed Optical Scanning Microscope for Routine Clinical Applications
Authors: Frekers D , Aksit I , Pilipenko V , Bünger K
Published: March 2018

New and novel fast scanning microscopes with much enhanced image capturing and image analysis tools can dramatically extend the analytical power of traditional light microscopy by converting it to what one may call "virtual microscopy" (VM). One of the most important application fields of VM is connected to medical pathology. Here one can introduce the concept even to routine diagnostics in the day-to-day clinical environment. Further, over an intranet network, VM allows quick and easy access to the "virtual slides" database at any time and at any place. Another important aspect is the prospect that long-term archiving in large regional hospitals will be greatly facilitated.
Easy Guide to Calibrating TEM's and STEM's
Authors: McCaffrey John
Published: March 2018

This guide provides an introduction to calibrating transmission electron microscopes (TEM's) and scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM's), as well as (S) TEM's - instruments that can perform in both modes. While not technically correct, all these instruments will be collectively referred to as TEM's for the rest of this Guide. As with most things, there is a wealth of interesting facts and insights to be discovered by exploring this topic further. More detailed explanations can be found in the classic monographs by Edington or in textbooks such as Williams and Carter.
Embedding Small Specimens for TEM Examination
Authors: Webster Paul
Published: March 2018

When preparing specimens for TEM analysis, it is important that specimens routinely be large enough to manipulate with forceps and cohesive enough to hold together as a single entity. However, anyone working in EM will have some specimens that are too small to see or centrifuged pellets that easily fall apart during processing. These specimens can easily be lost during a routine dehydration and embedding protocol and therefore cannot be sectioned. If the specimen to be processed is too small to handle or will fall apart, then precautions can be taken to ensure that it can be safely embedded for sectioning. Although this article is written with the main focus on biomedical electron microscopy, these handling protocols can be applied to any small specimens that have to be thin sectioned.
Fluctuation Microscopy: What is it?
Authors: Treacy Michael M J
Published: March 2018

Fluctuation microscopy is the enigmatic name given to an otherwise straightforward technique for studying medium range order in highly disordered materials. By medium range, we mean atomic ordering at length scales within the range 0.5-2.0 nm, where traditional imaging and diffraction techniques have the most difficulty detecting structural correlations in amorphous materials. Puzzlement over fluctuation microscopy generally arises not because of the "microscopy" part of the name, but because of the "fluctuation" part. What, exactly, is fluctuating? And, why does it fluctuate?

The fluctuations are simply the variations in scattering between small sub-volumes within a thin sample. These are usually not timevarying fluctuations (although they could be), but instead they are the position-varying fluctuations in local diffraction.
Ex-Situ "Auto Lift" Technique for TEM Sample Preparation
Authors:   Garth "Brian" Cook
Published: March 2018

"The most advantageous feature of the ex-situ lift out method is throughput."

A great deal of emphasis is placed on "throughput" in the microprocessor industry. Wafer sizes are getting larger and the costs of building them have increased astronomically. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) has become the essential tool for examining current microprocessor products. The TEM can only be effective if it has properly prepared specimens to put into it. In order to achieve the highest specimen preparation spatial resolution, the microprocessor industry has turned to focused ion beam (FIB) tools, either single or dual column, for TEM specimen preparation in applications ranging from process control to failure analysis, and on to semiconductor device metrology.
Fostering LIMS Development Through Open Standards
Authors: Goodblatt Avrum
Published: March 2018

At the Microscopy and Microanalysis conference in Honolulu this last August a small meeting was convened to share information and knowledge about implementing LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Systems). The meeting took place at the end of the session on Core Facility Management, through the efforts of Debby Sherman, who is coordinator of the Core Facility Managers Focused Interest Group (http://microscopy.org/MSAUnits/Committees/ Facilities.html). In addition to the meeting, I spoke with several vendors (focusing on those vendors we use here at PathBioResource), as well as others who have made some progress in developing and/or installing LIMS.
Part 4: Concluding Discussion Of Current And Possible Future Topics
Authors: Sherman Debby
Published: March 2018

This article is the final of a 4-part series transcribed from the discussion taped during the Facility Management session at M&M 2000. It is printed with permission of the Microscopy Society of America. Bulleted paragraphs indicate comments by individuals attending the session.

To get back to billing and cost recovery, one of the problems we continually face in our lab is that people can come through the door with any kind of problem under the face of the earth. We are wide open to any sort of EM research. This entails an awful lot of protocol development.
Typing Blood Cells, One At A Time
Authors: Carmichael Stephen W
Published: March 2018

We are all familiar with the 4 groups of human blood types; 0, A, B, and AB. Each group is characterized by specific molecules on the surface of the red blood cells (RBCs). Recently, Michel Grandbois, Wolfgang Dettmann, Martin Benoit, and Hermann Gaub have modified the atomic force microscope (AFM) to use the different affinities of these molecules to produce an image.

A key step was to specifically functionalize the scanning probe tip of the AFM. What this means is to covalently attach an active molecule to the tip. The active molecule they used was a Iectin derived from the snail Helix pomatia (this is the same snail valued by the French as escargot). This Iectin binds specifically to molecules found on the surface of RBCs in blood group A (N-acetylgalactosamine-terminated glycolipids), but these molecules are not found in blood group O. But if the Iectin was bound directly to the AFM tip, nonspecific adsorption to the specimens would occur.
SPM Tip Convolution
Authors: Rossi Robert
Published: March 2018

Why is it that tip convolution effects rotate with the scan angle in a Nanoscope-based AFM (and possibly other systems)? The tip certainly doesn't rotate in its holder as the scan angle is changed! I posed this question on the SPM mailing list, and got several answers in return, but I was still puzzled until I put all of them together and thought a while. However, I may not be the only puzzled soul out there, so let me attempt to summarize what I've come to understand:

A good way to think about this is to consider a righttriangle tip approaching a cube on a surface:

If the tip approaches the cube along the plane of the page screen, the left side of the cube will appear sharp in an AFM image and the right side of the cube will have a slant introduced into it due to a tip convolution effect.
Imaging Large Tissue Samples at High Resolution
Authors: Meyer Robert
Published: March 2018

To those scientists and researchers who use microscopes with video or digital cameras for the purpose of capture and display, there has always existed a fundamental problem, namely, imaging large tissue samples at high resolution.

For some time, conventional technology has allowed video cameras to be attached to microscopes. The signal generated by these cameras can be captured and saved to a computer's hard drive using a frame grabber. A typical image capture and display resolution is 640 by 480 (307,200) pixels. Although the image produced is ‘good’, it is by no means considered ‘high resolution’. For the sake of discussion, ‘high resolution’ is defined as greater than 1,000 x 1,000 (1,000,000) pixels. High resolution images are essential for medical applications. Today's modern digital cameras can meet or exceed this value. The human eye, if compared to these examples, has the equivalent resolution of greater than 5,000 x 5,000 (25,000,000) pixels.
pH Microscopy Applications
Authors: Satoshi Nomura
Published: March 2018

A scanning chemical microscope utilizing a flat pH sensor has proven effective for analyzing a number of biological specimens including human teeth surfaces, plant leafs, and rice.

The key to this microscope, the “pH imaging sensor”, is an electrochemical semiconductor that can be made to function as an array of point sensors when scanned by backside laser illumination. Measured pH values at each measurement point can be processed into a pH image. So far a resolution of 5 μm with a 0.01 pH sensitivity has been attained by this imaging technology, although most images are made using 100 μm resolution. The time to acquire an image is, of course, dependent on the size of the measured area. For example, a 6.4 mm x 6.4 mm image with a resolution of 100 urn can be acquired in 25 s. Linear pH profiles can also be obtained at a speed of 1 cm/s.
ETEM Issues and Opportunities for Dynamic In-situ Experiments
Authors: Boyes Edward D , Gai Pratibha L
Published: March 2018

Many dynamic processes do not occur in nature, science or industry in a typical TEM high (and sometimes not so high) vacuum environment. Dynamic in-situ data related to the real world need to be obtained under Controlled conditions of gas/vapor/liquid environment and temperature. In the ETEM (Environmental Transmission Electron Microscope), the specimen - but nothing much else - is shared between the chemical reactor on the horizontal axis and the vertical microscope column (Fig.1). The original Philips CM30 column is highly modified with pressure limiting apertures around the beam and multiple stages of differential pumping (Fig.2).
Low Voltage FESEM of Geological Materials
Authors: Ma Chi , Rossman George R
Published: March 2018

Low voltage field emission SEM (i.e., operated at several hundred volts to 5 kV), offering advantages in surface imaging due to reduced beam penetration,1 was found to be particularly useful in the investigation of uncoated, fine, geological materials down to the nano-scale. Here are four examples to highlight projects being conducted in our FESEM facility.

Kaolinite is one of the most important industrial minerals. Information about its surface properties and cation exchange capacity are important in both ore processing and applications of the clay mineral.2 Low voltage (LV) secondary electron (SE) imaging (Fig. la) reveals detailed (001) surface features of kaolinite, which are not obtainable with high voltage SEM (Fig. lb) and TEM. Kaolinite is highly sensitive to beam damage and can show obvious degradation after just a few seconds under the TEM beam. However, microtomed TEM samples maybe easily examined under LV SEM to show their thickness perpendicular to (001) and cross section features. Such information allows easy access to direct surface area determination of clay minerals.
Investigating the Microstructure of a Newly Developed Aluminum Alloy Through X-ray Microanalysis
Authors: Camus Patrick , Rohde David
Published: March 2018

The distribution of components, or microstructure, within a material is critical to its mechanical properties. For example, if a material has too many particles of one particular phase it may become too brittle, yet if there are too few particles it could lose strength. Every material exhibits different and unique characteristics. The goal of a material scientist is to analyze a material's microstructure and to optimize the manufacturing process. Electron microscopists observe this distribution on a very small, but critical, scale. The electron microscope can demonstrate specifically where the particles are distributed and then X-ray microanalysis can be used to identify what the particles are composed of.

This article will discuss the microstructure of an aluminum alloy with copper and iron additions. At the point of development, the mechanical properties of this new alloy were believed to be superior to that of previous materials; however, a number of subsequently conducted heat treatments did not support this theory, producing extremely unsatisfactory properties. In order to understand these results and rectify any problems, X-ray microanalysis was used to analyze the alloy's microstructure and assess the distribution of copper and iron particles within the metal.
Freezing Biological Samples
Authors: Charles W. Scouten  , Miles Cunningham
Published: March 2018

Freezing damages cell membranes and reduces the histological readability of biological specimens. This is a discussion of why, the consequences, and how to minimize or avoid the damage introduced when using freezing as the means to harden biological tissue in order to cut thin sections for histology.

Pure water can exist in the solid state in three forms. Two forms are crystalline: one with a hexagonal lattice and the other with a cubic lattice. The third form capitalizes on the fact that water can be frozen so rapidly that it does not have time to form a crystal lattice and remains amorphous (vitreous form). Crystal formation is responsible for the expansion of water as it freezes (a property unique of water), which creates specimen preparation artifacts. Vitreous ice does not expand upon solidification. This makes it the only desirable form of ice appropriate for biological specimens.
A Comparison of Photomicrographs Imaged Through a Late 18th C. Thomas Ribright, Cuff-Type, Brass Microscope and a Modern Olympus Optical Microscope
Authors: Jones D , Reid J
Published: March 2018

In 1967, Bradbury published a detailed study of the optical properties of early, compound microscopes using modern photo micrographic techniques. This was followed by Bracegirdle's studies on the performance of 17th and 18th C. microscopes and later by Jones's comparative study of a Victorian microscope with an 18th C. Cuff-type microscope, signed ‘ Dollond ’. On the suggestion of the late Dr. S. Bradbury (personal communication), the present study on the assessment of a Ribright microscope includes photomicrographs of specimens in slides similar to the ones he used, i.e. a blow-fly proboscis and diatoms.
Neglected Cellular Organelles
Authors: Rybicka Krystyna Kielan
Published: March 2018

Virtually all animal cells contain organelles called glycosomes which until now have been neglected in cell biology. This author recently published a comprehensive review article entitled "Glycosomes - the organelles of giycogen metabolism", Tissue & Cell 28 (3) 253-265, 1996. The review, based on biochemical and microscopy data, includes a complete history of giycogen research and the current status of knowledge

Biochemical studies on giycogen metabolism demonstrate the existence of a complex enzymatic machinery involved in giycogen synthesis and degradation, which constantly accumulates giycogen and releases glucose. Such types of cellular machineries represent cell organelles and these were already called glycosomes.
Cells Connected by Tiny Tunnels
Authors: Carmichael Stephen W
Published: March 2018

Intracellular communication is imperative for multicellular organisms. Such devices as synapses and gap junctions have been recognized for decades. Now Amin Rustom, Raiser Saffrich, Ivanka Markovic, Paul Walther, and Hans-Hermann Gerdes have described a new model of cell-to-cell communication.

While looking at PC12 (rat pheochromocytoma) cells in the presence of fluorescently labeled wheat germ agglutinin, Rustom et al. observed relatively long connections extending between cells. These structures were 50 to 200 nm in diameter and up to several cell diameters in length and were named tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). TNTs were subsequently found connecting cultured cells from other lines. They were consistently positioned along the smallest distance between the cells, did not contact the substrate, and occasionally were branched. TNTs immunostained positive for actin, but did not contain microtubules. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy definitively established that a TNT represented a seamless continuity of the plasma membrane from one cell to another.
Microscopy & Microanalytical Support for NASA's Microgravity Materials Science Programs
Authors: Gillies Donald C
Published: March 2018

The Materials Science Program of NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OB PR) has attacked futidamental problems of materials science as defined by an external advisory group, known as the Discipline Working Group (DWG). These have been:

• Nucleation and Metastable States • Prediction and Gontrol of Micrestructures • Crystal Growth and Detect Generation • Phase Separation and Interfacial Phenomena • Thermophysical Properties and Process Modeling.

While the program's primary objectives are science-based and despite the fact that 90% of these programs concentrate on pre-cursor and theoretical research on the ground, NASA demands that there be a microgravity rationale driving the research.
A Suspended Floor for High-Performance Electron Microscopy and Nanoscience
Authors: Brown Charles Eric , Nicholls Alan W , Royston Thomas J , D'Keidek Waleed M
Published: March 2018

The recent article in this journal by O'Keefe et al provides an excellent introduction to the complexities that must be considered when embarking on the installation of a high-resolution electron microscope. It should not pass one's notice, however, that the advent of nanoscience has placed ever stricter attention on the control of vibration not just for analytical instrumentation but also for fabrication facilities. In addition to the thick isolated concrete slab-ongratie described in the above article, designs are coming into use (Fig. 1) that incorporate rigid “waffle” floor structures on closely spaced building columns and pneumatically isolated inertia slabs as are used, for example, in the subterranean portion of the NIST Advanced Metrology Laboratory. Each of these approaches might with time also find applications in the design of electron microscopy laboratories. However, each has the problem of rather high expense of construction.
RIMAPS and Varlogram Analysis of Barley Leaf Surfaces
Authors: Favret Eduardo A , Fuentes Néstor O
Published: March 2018

It is a common practice to use microscopic images to describe the differences observed between plant tissues. The images illustrate the taxonomic characteristics of the studied species. In this work we introduce a quantitative method for conducting these analyses utilizing digitized images obtained via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of barley leaf surfaces. The topography of the leaf surfaces of a narrow-leaf mutant and its wild type mother line was characterized, see figure 1, using the Rotated Image with Maximum Average Power Spectrum (RIMAPS) technique and the Variogram method. Spectra resulting from RIMAPS analysis allow us to identify the specimens and to distinguish between the adaxial or the abaxial side of the leaf. These results are complemented by obtaining the typical scale lengths that characterize the abaxial surfaces of both the mutant and the mother line barley leaves.
Electron Microscopy Analysis of Multilamellar Vesicles Prepared from Synthetic Lipids: A Model System for Studying Membrane Structure in the Molecular Cell Biology Classroom and Laboratory
Authors: Camp Russell R , Byun Jungsoo , Jacob Robert
Published: March 2018

The cell is the fundamental unit of all living organisms, ranging from the unicellular archaea and bacteria (prokaryotes) to higher multicellular plants and animals (eukaryotes). All cells are bounded by a complex and dynamic plasma membrane, which functions principally to maintain cellular and organismal steady state by performing complex energy transformations and regulating the flow of information for the cell. The cell membrane also performs a number of vital housekeeping functions, which include control of the transport of substances between extracellular and intracellular environments, participation in cell signaling cascades by hosting receptors of extracellular ligands, and facilitating critical cell-to-cell communications in multicellular organisms (Karp, 2005).

Considerable research over the last fifty years has significantly increased our understanding of cell membranes and their structural organization. Every membrane is fundamentally comprised of a dynamic lipid bilayer that supports a variety of transmembrane and membraneassociated proteins.
Flicker Stereo: Digital 3D Viewing for PC & Presentation
Authors: Greenhut Nathan R , Greenhut Victor A
Published: March 2018

Flicker stereo alternates two pictures (∼ 1 frame/sec.) of the same structure with views tilted 6° ± 1° about a vertical axis—Natural appearing stereo visualization results. A flicker stereo program to be used for viewing with a personal computer (PC) was developed by the authors. The two images are installed, adjusted for superposition and then alternated on the computer monitor or computer projection system. Flicker stereo can be applied to micrographs from the optical microscope, SEM, TEM, pictures or line drawings. Flicker stereo provides simultaneous three dimensional viewing for several individuals without special viewers, projection systems and/or glasses. Different flicker images may be retrieved and viewed on a PC in rapid succession. Flicker stereo facilitates technical discussion between collaborators and provides a convenient approach for 3D visualization by audiences using a digital LCD projection. The program is available to readers.
Causes of Color in Minerals and Gemstones
Authors: Hlava Paul F
Published: March 2018

The colors that one sees when looking at a mineral or gemstone are due to the response of that person's eye to the energies of the light, the emission spectrum of the illumination, and, most importantly, physical phenomena in the material that cause some colors to be absorbed while others are undisturbed or enhanced. It is beyond the scope of this article to do more than touch on the physiology of the eye that allows us to see colors. Likewise, we will not dwell on the emission spectra of various light sources. Rather, we will concentrate on the various ways in which materials, especially minerals and their heights of perfection, gemstones, produce color from white light.
Identification of Sample Preparation Artifacts in Powder Analysis
Authors: Taubert Andreas
Published: March 2018

The synthesis of inorganic materials of a specific size and shape is a key aspect in modern powder technology. During the past two decades, solution-based precipitation reactions have been explored for controlled particle formation. A wide variety of particle shapes, sizes, and compositions has been demonstrated. However, several questions, especially concerning particle nucleation, remain. Some of these questions are currently addressed by investigating precipitate (ex situ) at different reaction stages by means of powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Apple Launches Educational Object Economy
Authors: Spohrer Jim
Published: March 2018

Whether they need Chinese language flash cards, steps and music to a Scottish country dance, physics simulations, or any one of hundreds of other teaching tools, educators and researchers can find them at Apple's Educational Object Economy (EOE) project (http://trp.research.apple.com).

The EOE is a complementary online community based around the creation, sharing, and use of teaching resources that incorporate Java applets for web-based learning. Java applets are small, easy-to-use programs written in Sun Microsystem's Java programming language. Using virtually any computer equipped with a standard web browser, educators can access hundreds of teaching and curriculum development tools for use in the classroom, for research, or in other educational endeavors.
Critical Issues In Ceramic Microstructures
Authors: Clarke D R
Published: March 2018

As the number and variety of ceramic materials have grown so rapidly in the last few decades, ranging from silicon nitride structural ceramics to the perovskite superconductors to the ferroelectric oxides to semiconducting sensors, the number of scientific and technical issues has also grown rapidly. Many of the basic questions relate to the role the microstructures play in determining the observed physical behavior, but increasingly it is not the geometric properties of the microstructure that are of central concern but rather compositional variations and associated electrical characteristics.
Protocol of Plant Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy (Conventional Methods)
Authors: Crang Richard F E
Published: March 2018

These notes address conventional specimen preparation for higher plant tissues. While in many cases freeze-substitution has been shown to be a superior method, the equipment required is not generally available in most electron microscopic laboratories, Thus, the more conventional procedures outlined herein have been found to work satisfactorily for most leaf material, and have been most successful in the fixation and embedment of small root slices (from near the root tip), An adjustment of the osmotic pressure may be necessary if the plant material used is highly vacuolated and if there is an exceptionally high water content.
Microwave Slide Drying for Routine, Special and Immunohistochemical Staining
Authors: Gardner Lynn , Ballard Christy
Published: March 2018

Microwave slide drying can be an extremely useful tool in the laboratory as it can cut the time it takes to dry slides without compromising the morphology or staining quality.

One important factor is to always use some type of Plus slide. We have found in trials that when using these slides we have not had tissue fall off the slide and we specialize in eye tissue which is notorious for (ailing off the slide.
TEM Flat Embedding Technique
Authors: Howard Louisa
Published: March 2018

Individual BHK-21 (Baby Hamster Kidney-21} cells growing on 25 mm photo-etched alpha-numeric glass coverslips (Belico Co.) are identified by phase contrast microscopy and photographed. (Saredi, Howard and Compton, 1995), This method should work for other cell lines, but likely will require some empirical adjustment of the times, concentrations, and pH.
Making Surface Replicas With Cellulose Acetate Sheets
Authors: Blackwood Andrew W
Published: March 2018

The of use this material goes back to the days when fractography was done by TEM because SEM was not commercially available, There is, therefore, some very old literature on how to use the material, but since most of it is art, anyway, most current authors assume that the reader is generally familiar with the technique.

There are actually two purposes in using this material. Even for relatively small samples, it may be necessary to remove corrosion products in a nondestructive manner. In my opinion the best way to do this is to use acetone-softened cellulose acetate, which will remove the corrosion product but leave what is left of the metal.
Observing Traffic Within Cells
Authors: Carmichael Stephen W
Published: March 2018

Ever since membranes could be resolved within cells, the pattern of intracellular membrane trafficking has been under investigation. Images made with the transmission electron microscope revealed numerous small vesicles that appeared to be shuttling between the endoplasmic rettculum (ER) and the Golgi complex. However, these static images offered no information as to the direction trie vesicles were moving and were quite inconclusive. Nevertheless, evidence built over time to suggest that unrefined proteins were moved in small vesicles from one intracellular compartment to another. Recently, a study by John Presley, Nelson Cole, Trina Schroer, Koret Hirschberg, Kristen Zaal, and Jennifer Lippincott- Schwartz with the light microscope has challenged this view. They not only presented convincing morphologic data in their published article, but they also posted some Quicktime movies on a Web site (http://dir.nichd.nih.gov/CBMB/pb1labob.html) that are even more convincing.
Macintosh Resource Forks on CD ROMs for both Macs and DOS Computers
Authors: Oshel David
Published: March 2018

A question that often comes up when archiving Macintosh image files to CD-ROMs so that they can be read by either DOS or Mac computers is "What happens to the Mac resource fork of the image file?"

PC Exchange, which is built into System 7.x, creates a hidden resource fork directory on PC disks that have Mac files on them, along with additional Finder info files which contain information about file type and creator, icons, position of icons in windows, etc, Although these additional files are marked as hidden, they can be read and presumably copied by Windows '95 directly.
The Development of an X-ray Spectral Database for Forensic Science
Authors: Ward Dennis
Published: March 2018

The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with associated Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) is commonly used to characterize the structure and elemental composition of a wide variety of materials of forensic significance. When these materials are extremely limited in size, SEM/EDS is often the only suitable method for characterization available in forensic science laboratories.

Because of the inability to access SEM/EDS data from large numbers of materials, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) laboratory believes that this discipline has not realized its full potential. The usefulness of SEM/EDS has been limited by the inability to archive spectra within a utility having a true database architecture. The FBI Laboratory has designed such an X-ray database, consisting of storage, query, and display utilities unique to X-ray spectroscopy.
Copper Contamination of Gunshot Residue and Other Particle Spectra
Authors: Burnett Bryan R
Published: March 2018

Many scanning electron microscope (SEM) laboratories use double sticky carbon tape applied directly to SEM stubs as samplers for small particles. The SEM samplers used by law enforcement to test the hands of a suspect for gunshot residue (GSR) are constructed in this manner.

A few years ago, during a presentation at a professional meeting, I presented spectra of particles that were mounted on carbon double sticky tape that was applied directly to the aluminum- alloy SEM stubs. After the presentation a colleague posited that small peaks of copper, which appeared in some of my spectra, were due to a copper support frame for the backscatter detector at the top of the SEM chamber and not the particles. Indeed, I have frequently noticed small peaks of copper in spectra of particles where these should not be present.
Diffusion Pumps and Water Chillers
Authors: Thomas FC
Published: March 2018

This note concerns two very important parts of most beam instrument systems; diffusion pumps and water chillers. As we'll see below, the two can be intimately connected.

Many SEMs, TEMs and other electron beam instruments contain one or more diffusion pumps as part of their vacuum systems. These are usually vertically-oriented cylindrical objects, perhaps 30 cm high, wrapped in several turns of copper tubing. They are usually placed behind or below the instrument's column, and typically handle high vacuums for tungsten filaments, or backing for ion pumps with other emitter types. Generally, these units are fairly maintenance-free; a change of oil every few years may be all that is required.
Saga of the Chemical Microscope
Authors: McCrone Walter C
Published: March 2018

The precursor of today's light microscope was invented probably in the Netherlands about 1600. In effect it previously involved a two lens system - objective and the eyepiece. As such it was termed a compound microscope. It differed from the simple one-lens microscope of Anthony Leeuwenhoek in the 1600's. The image was so bad, however, that most microscopists preferred to use the simple one-lens microscope. Leeuwenhoek, with his one-lens microscope, magnifying up to 280X, discovered foraminifera and many other “wee beasties”, even bacteria and spermatozoa.
Teeth and their Associated Tissues
Authors: Rittman Barry R J
Published: March 2018

The preparation of histological sections of teeth can be both a rewarding and a frustrating experience. This is primarily due to the varying degrees of mineralization of the enamel, dentin, cementum and surrounding bone and the difficulty in retaining original relationships between the calcified and the soft tissues in the final stained section.

The tooth has a central pulp that is a gelatinous loose connective tissue. Surrounding this is dentin that forms the main bulk of the tooth, is composed chiefly of collagen fibers and is approximately 70% mineralized.
On Measuring Section Thickness
Authors: Doole Ron
Published: March 2018

Section thickness can be measured by placing beads of some kind on the top and bottom surfaces of the section. This is then a simple parallax problem.

Imagine the specimen in cross section. If there are two particles, one vertically above the other they are separated by the film thickness T. Tilt the film through an angle A and in plan view the particles will separate by a distance D. This can also be extended to account for two particles not vertically above each other but I'll stick to the easy case for the explanation.

Take two negatives one at zero tilt and one at tilt of A and measure the separation D. The thickness can be calculated by T=D/sinA.

The direction of the tilt axis must be known for the measurements and it is easy to see that the larger the tiit angle and the more accurately the separation is measured, the more accurate the measurement will be. Tilt at both positive and negative angles to get a more accurate result.
Choosing an Electron Backscattering System
Authors: Eades Alwyn
Published: March 2018

Recent advances in cameras and computers have made it possible to build electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) cameras which can give crystallographic information from specimens in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) on a routine basis. There are a few hundred such systems world wide and the number is growing fast. In the case of crystalline samples (nearly all applications of SEM outside the biomedical field), it will surely soon be considered essential to fit an SEM with an EBSD system, just as it is now considered essential to have the SEM equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) system. There are at feast four commercial manufacturers of EBSD systems.
In Situ Delineation Etch Reveals Subtle Detail in SEM Images of Ion Milled Cross Sections Enabling In-Fab 3-D Metrology and Characterization
Authors: Chandler Clive
Published: March 2018

Control of layer thickness is critically important in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Cross-sectioning exposes device structures for direct examination but conventional sample preparation procedures are difficult, time consuming, and grossly destructive. Cross sections created by focused ion beam (FIB) milling are easier, faster, and less destructive but have not offered the clear layer delineation provided by etching in the conventional sample preparation process. A new gas etch capability (Delineation Etch™ from FEI Company) offers results that are equivalent to conventional wet-etch preparations in a fraction of the time from a single, automated system in the fab without destroying the wafer. The new etch process also has application in milling high-aspect-ratio holes to create contacts to buried metal layers, and in deprocessing devices to reveal silicon and polysilicon structures.
A Book Review: Imaging Neurons, A Laboratory Manual
Authors: McNulty John
Published: March 2018

The resurgence of microscopy in recent years is certainly not news to readers of this journal. But, for many of us, this resurgence has placed additional strains on our already busy lives to keep current on new technologies and techniques. Fortunately, books such as “Imaging Neurons. A Laboratory Manual” (Edited by Rafael Yuste, Frederick Lanni and Arthur Konnerth) provide comprehensive and timely reviews to help us keep abreast of the field.

The book evolved from a summer course taught by the editors and many of the contributors at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and although it obviously targets neurobiologists, many of the techniques are applicable to other biological systems. An impressive feature of the manual is the breadth and detail of topics covered.
Improved Cutting of One-Micron Plastic Sections using Qwick Glass Knives
Authors: McMahon James T , Alsouss Joel
Published: March 2018

One-micron plastic "thick" sections, usually stained with toluidine blue, are indispensable light microscopic adjuvants for the selection and evaluation of tissue blocks prior to electron microscopy. Plastic thick sections may also be the only practical alternative to routine histologic sections when tissue specimens are limited or too small for processing in paraffin. In all cases, however, plastic sections provide superior light microscopic resolution compared to paraffin sections, but lack the compatibility with the wide variety of special stains that make paraffin sections so versatile.
Microscopy for Children
Authors: Schooley Caroline
Published: March 2018

Precollege science education in the United States is not what it could, and should, be. Major changes are being made in the way science is taught, but delivering those changes to thousands of schools is an enormous task. Scientific societies are a major resource; they can organize and train member-volunteers to help teachers bring “real” science to the classroom. The Microscopy Society of America has become part of the effort with Project MICRO (Microscopy In Curriculum - Research Outreach). MICRO is putting MSA members, teaching materials, and microscopes in middle school classrooms nationwide. The idea began in 1993, but it has taken a lot of time and effort to implement.

MSA's early decision to collaborate with experienced science educators at the Lawrence Hall of Science of the University of California at Berkeley was a wise one; their educational materials have a well-earned national reputation for excellence.
Another Alternative to Service Contracts
Authors: Nikischer Tony
Published: March 2018

In Ihe October, 2001 issue of Microscopy Today, Randy Tindail described and compared his experiences with service contracts offered by insurance companies versus those offered by equipment manufacturers. As a small business with limited funds, we, too, grappled with the onerous costs of service contracts on our SEM and EDS units. However, we believe that we have found an extremely cost-effective means of protecting our equipment investment against the expense of a major failure.

First, a bit of business philosophy: We believe insurance should be designed to protect the insured from catastrophe, and not be expected to take care of every minor expense or inconvenience that may develop.
Low Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy
Authors: Joy David C , Newbury Dale E
Published: March 2018

Low Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy (LVSEM), defined as operation in the energy range below 5 keV, has become perhaps the most important single operational mode of the SEM. This is because the LVSEM offers advantages in the imaging of surfaces, in the observation of poorly conducting and insulating materials, and for high spatial resolution X-ray microanalysis. These benefits all occur because a reduction in the energy Eo of the incident beam leads to a rapid fall in the range R of the electrons since R ∼k.E0  1.66. The reduction in the penetration of the beam has important consequences.
Fast Orientation Imaging Microscropy
Authors: Dingley David J , Wright Stuart , Nowell Mathew
Published: March 2018

Orientation Imaging Microscopy is currently the most rapidly growing combined metallographic and crystallographic technique today. The first OIM was recorded by Wright in 1991, and published soon after, Adams et al. (1993). The technique is based on the original works on Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) by Venables and Hariand (1973), and Dingiey (1984, 1987). By 1994 some number of papers on the subject had been published. At the time of writing the authors are aware of over 600 publications that have utilized the technique and there are in excess of 400 systems in use worldwide.
Fitting a Student Microscope with a Consumer Digital Camera
Authors: Clarke Theodore M
Published: March 2018

My home microscopy of lake water organisms with my two student microscopes lead to my active participation in Micscape Internet magazine available at the web site http://www.microscopy-uk/mag. An article in Micscape by Dave Walker, http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artian02/toptips8.html. played a critical role in my decision to purchase a Nikon Coolpix 995 for my home microscopy. Dave's article referenced a far more thorough article on fitting a consumer digital camera to older style microscopes: The New Microscopy by Peter Evennett, Proceedings RMS, Vol. 35 (4), Dec 2000.
Vibration, Resonance and the Effect on Microscopes
Authors: Anderson Douglas A
Published: March 2018

When we sit down at our microscopes, we assume that the environment is ideal - clean and quiet, with little to distract us from the sample. If an obvious distraction does occur, such as a bump to the instrument, or a big power surge, we look carefully and wonder, “Has the sample been damaged? Will the photograph be messed up?”

There are disturbances we may not notice, some of which are discussed in the Microscopy Listserver. One problem I have been involved in mitigating is the degradation of image quality (primarily decreased resolution) caused by vibration. We may not be aware if we have this problem, because the body is a lot less sensitive to vibration than a microscope. I will talk about the general nature of vibration, how it affects microscopy, and some thoughts on possible mitigation techniques.
Immunology 101: The Basics of Immunoglobulins and Immunostaining
Authors: Gray (Jay) Jerome W
Published: March 2018

The ability to immunologically link microscopic tags to specific proteins has produced major advances in all forms of microscopy. Initially researchers needed to make and label their own antibodies. This required a good working knowledge of immunology. Today labeled anitbodies are readily available from a variety of vendors. Although this has greatly facilitated the expansion of immunolabeling techniques, it has also led to their use by researchers with little or no background in immunology. While this is not a problem for simple, straightforward situations, the quality of data produced in more specialized experiments can suffer.
Confocal Microscopy System Performance: Field Illumination
Authors: Zucker Robert M
Published: March 2018

The confocal laser-scanning microscope (CLSM) has enormous potential in many biological fields. The reliability of the CLSM to obtain specific measurements and quantify fluorescence data is dependent on using a correctly aligned machine that contains a stable laser power. For many applications it is useful to know the CLSM system's performance prior to acquiring data images so the necessary resolution, sensitivity and precision can be obtained. Applications involving deconvolution, FRET and quantification necessitate that the confocal microscope is correctly configured and operating at the highest performance levels.