Search results for " Microscopy"
showing 10 items of 1617 documents
The thin and medium filters of the EPIC camera on-board XMM-Newton: measured performance after more than 15 years of operation
2016
After more than 15 years of operation of the EPIC camera on board the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, we have reviewed the status of its Thin and Medium filters. We have selected a set of Thin and Medium back-up filters among those still available in the EPIC consortium and have started a program to investigate their status by different laboratory measurements including: UV/VIS transmission, Raman scattering, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy. Furthermore, we have investigated the status of the EPIC flight filters by performing an analysis of the optical loading in the PN offset maps to gauge variations in the optical and UV transmission. We both investigated repea…
Compensation of missing wedge effects with sequential statistical reconstruction in electron tomography.
2014
Electron tomography (ET) of biological samples is used to study the organization and the structure of the whole cell and subcellular complexes in great detail. However, projections cannot be acquired over full tilt angle range with biological samples in electron microscopy. ET image reconstruction can be considered an ill-posed problem because of this missing information. This results in artifacts, seen as the loss of three-dimensional (3D) resolution in the reconstructed images. The goal of this study was to achieve isotropic resolution with a statistical reconstruction method, sequential maximum a posteriori expectation maximization (sMAP-EM), using no prior morphological knowledge about …
Transmission electron microscopy in molecular structural biology: A historical survey.
2015
In this personal, historic account of macromolecular transmission electron microscopy (TEM), published data from the 1940s through to recent times is surveyed, within the context of the remarkable progress that has been achieved during this time period. The evolution of present day molecular structural biology is described in relation to the associated biological disciplines. The contribution of numerous electron microscope pioneers to the development of the subject is discussed. The principal techniques for TEM specimen preparation, thin sectioning, metal shadowing, negative staining and plunge-freezing (vitrification) of thin aqueous samples are described, with a selection of published im…
Polyamide-Based Fibers Containing Microwave-Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelets
2016
Exfoliated Graphite NanoPlatelets (GNP) have been obtained from Graphite Intercalation Compounds (GIC) subjected to thermal and microwave treatments. Accurate morphological and structural characterization of obtained GNP, performed to compare the degree of exfoliation, show that microwave-treated GNP, exhibit well-exfoliated structure, without any reduction in dimensions compared with the native GIC, differently to the thermal-treated ones. Microwave-treated GNP have been introduced in polyamide (PA) through melt-mixing to obtain nanocomposite that has been subjected to elongational flow, with the aim to improve the nanofiller dispersion and induce GNP orientation along the fiber direction.…
Confocal microscopy study of the distribution, content and activity of mitochondria during Paracentrotus lividus development
2007
Summary In the present paper we applied confocal microscopy andfluorescence technologies for studying the distribution andthe oxidative activity of sea urchin ( Paracentrotus lividus )mitochondria during development, by in vivo incubating eggsand embryos with cell-permeant MitoTracker probes. Wecalculated, by a mathematical model, the intensity values, the variations of intensity, and the variation index of incorporatedfluorochromes. Data demonstrate that mitochondrial massdoes not change during development, whereas mitochondrialrespirationincreases.Inaddition,startingfrom16blastomeresstage, some regions of the embryo contain organelles moreactive in oxygen consumption. Introduction The con…
Dorsal root ganglia neurite outgrowth measured as a function of changes in microelectrode array resistance
2017
Current research in prosthetic device design aims to mimic natural movements using a feedback system that connects to the patient's own nerves to control the device. The first step in using neurons to control motion is to make and maintain contact between neurons and the feedback sensors. Therefore, the goal of this project was to determine if changes in electrode resistance could be detected when a neuron extended a neurite to contact a sensor. Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) were harvested from chick embryos and cultured on a collagen-coated carbon nanotube microelectrode array for two days. The DRG were seeded along one side of the array so the processes extended across the array, contacting a…
Effects of acids used in the microabrasion technique: microhardness and confocal microscopy analysis
2015
Background: This study evaluated the effects of the acids used in the microabrasion on enamel. Material and Methods: Seventy enamel/dentine blocks (25 mm 2 ) of bovine incisors were divided into 7 groups (n=10). Experimental groups were treated by active/passive application of 35% H 3 PO 4 (E1/E2) or 6.6% HCl (E3/ E4). Control groups were treated by microabrasion with H 3 PO 4 +pumice (C5), HCl+silica (C6), or no treatment (C7). The superficial (SMH) and cross-sectional (CSMH; depths of 10, 25, 50, and 75 μm) microhardness of enamel were analyzed. Morphology was evaluated by confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM). Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (Proc Mixed), Tukey, and Dunnet…
Impact of Ceramic and Metallic Nano-scaled Particles on Endothelial Cell Functionsin vitro
2007
The sections in this article are Introduction Origin of Particles in the Human Environment Evidence for Size-dependent Toxicity of Particles Dissemination and Interferences of Nanoparticles within the Body Endothelial Cells and Nanoparticle Exposure Testing of Nanoparticle-induced Effects on Human Endothelial Cells In Vitro Materials and Methods Cell Culture Particles Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Cytotoxicity Assay Detection of Ki67 Expression Quantification of IL-8 Release in Cell Culture Supernatant Quantification of E-selectin Cell Surface Protein Expression Fluorescence Staining Statistical Analysis Results Discussion Particle Internalization Particle Cytotoxicity Pro-inflamma…
Anti-inflammatory properties of simvastatin on leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions following hemorrhagic shock
2002
Background Hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) have been shown to lower serum cholesterol levels. Recent studies reported that statins have vasculoprotective effects independent of their cholesterol-lowering properties. We studied simvastatin for its ability to modulate leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions under acute inflammation following hemorrhage and reperfusion. Methods The effects of simvastatin on leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions were observed by intravital microscopy in the rat mesenteric microcirculation and by immunohistochemical analyzes. Simvastatin (50 μg/kg or 100 μg/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally 18 h before study. Inf…
Geomaterials in green building practices: comparative characterization of commercially available clay-based plasters
2013
Three pre-mixed powdered clay-based (earthen) plasters produced in Europe and specifically designed for wall undercoating were analyzed in this paper. These materials are commercially available and successfully employed in green building practices all over the world. Their compositional and textural characteristics, as well as plastic behaviour were investigated through a multi-analytical approach: X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), grain-size distribution (GSD) and semi-empirical tests (Atterberg…