Search results for "MICROSCOPE"

Zinc-positive presynaptic boutons of the rabbit hippocampus during early postnatal development

1998

Abstract The evolution of vesicular zinc-containing boutons in the developing rabbit hippocampus has been studied during early postnatal life using the selenite–Danscher histochemical method. By P3, large immature mossy fiber boutons with labeled synaptic vesicles were seen in the hilus of the dentate gyrus and in the stratum lucidum of the CA3–CA4 hippocampal areas. After P5, smaller boutons with labeled vesicles were identified in the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum of all hippocampal areas, and even transiently in the stratum lacunosum of P6 animals. Vesicular zinc-containing boutons increased in number and underwent ultrastructural maturation; light microscope densitometric–volumetr…

Speckle-based configuration for simultaneous in vitro inspection of mechanical contractions of cardiac myocyte cells.

2013

An optical lensless configuration for a remote noncontact measuring of mechanical contractions of a vast number of cardiac myocytes is proposed. All the myocytes were taken from rats, and the measurements were done in an in vitro mode. The optical method is based on temporal analysis of secondary reflected speckle patterns generated in lensless microscope configuration. The processing involves analyzing the movement and the change in the statistics of the secondary speckle patterns that are created on top of the cell culture when it is illuminated by a spot of laser beam. The main advantage of the proposed system is the ability to measure many cells simultaneously (∼1000 cells) and to extra…

2015

AbstractWhile understanding the properties of materials under stress is fundamentally important, designing experiments to probe the effects of large tensile stress is difficult. Here tensile stress is created in thin films of potassium (up to 4 atomic layers) by epitaxial growth on a rigid support, graphite. We find that this “simple” metal shows a long-range, periodic “herringbone” reconstruction, observed in 2- and 3- (but not 1- and 4-) layer films by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Such a pattern has never been observed in a simple metal. Density functional theory (DFT)simulations indicate that the reconstruction consists of self-aligned stripes of enhanced atom den…

Electron microscopy of gold nanoparticles at atomic resolution

2014

Detailed structure of a gold nanoparticle Adding only a few atoms or changing the capping ligand can dramatically change the structure of individual metal nanoparticles. Azubel et al. used aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy to derive a three-dimensional reconstruction of water-soluble gold nanoparticles. Small-angle x-ray scattering and other techniques have also corroborated this model. They used this to determine the atomic structure, which compared favorably with density functional theory calculations, without assuming any a priori structural knowledge or the use of model fitting. Science , this issue p. 909

Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin. Production of functionally intact, site-specifically modifiable protein by introduction of cysteine at positions 6…

1993

Staphylococcal alpha-toxin, the prototype of an oligomerizing, pore-forming cytotoxin, is sensitive to biochemical modifications and cannot be labeled with biotin or fluorescein under preservation of its biological activity. In this study, we have used site-directed mutagenesis to introduce cysteine residues at positions 69, 130, and 186. Each mutant was fully and rapidly reactive with several sulfhydryl-specific reagents, indicating superficial location. Coupling of SH-groups with fluorescein-maleimide or biotin-maleimide was tolerated without loss of hemolytic activity at position 130, and the formed hexamers were visible on target cells by fluorescence microscopy and could be detected on…

Structure and closure mechanism of the human umbilical artery

1978

The structure of the fully-patent umbilical artery and rearrangement of its structural elements with postnatal closure were examined in 10 centimeter long umbilical cord segments which were double-clamped at different time intervals after delivery. The fully-patent umbilical artery consists of two main layers: an outer layer of circularly arranged smooth muscle cells and an inner layer which shows rather irregularly and loosely arranged cells embedded in abundant metachromatic ground substance. No predominantly longitudinal arrangements of cells and fibers reported by earlier investigators could be identified in the inner layer. Closure of the umbilical arteries is initiated by numerous loc…

Mg2-xTixNi (x=0, 0.5) alloys prepared by mechanical alloying for electrochemical hydrogen storage: Experiments and first-principles calculations

2012

International audience; Mg2-xTixNi (x = 0, 0.5) electrode alloys have been prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) under argon atmosphere at room temperature using a planetary high-energy ball mill. The microstructures of synthesized alloys are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of substitutional doping of Ti in Mg2Ni phase have been investigated by first-principles density functional theory calculations. XRD analysis results indicate that Ti substitution for Mg in Mg2Ni-type alloys results in the formation of TiNi (Pm-3m) and TiNi3 intermetallics. With the increase of milling time, the TiNi phase…

Formation and Evolution of Nanoscale Metal Structures on ITO Surface by Nanosecond Laser Irradiations of Thin Au and Ag Films

2012

The effect of nanosecond laser irradiations on 5 nm thick sputter-deposited Au and Ag films on Indium-Tin-Oxide surface is investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After 500, 750, and 1000 mJ/cm 2 fluence irradiations, the breakup of the Au and Ag films into nanoscale islands is observed as a consequence of fast melting and solidification processes. The mean nanoparticles size and surface density are quantified, as a function of the laser fluence, by the AFM and SEM analyses. In particular, the comparison between the Au and Ag islands reveals the formation of larger islands in the case of Ag for each fixed fluence. The mechanism of the nanoscale …

An advance Towards the Synthesis of Ag Nanorod Arrays with Controlled Surface Roughness for SERS Substrates

2016

An innovative approach to produce silver nanorod (NRs) arrays with controlled morphological parameters and surface roughness is presented. The Ag NRs were obtained using a three-stage fabrication process based on the electron beam exposure of a metal-polymer nanocomposite resist on a transparent substrate and development, a post bake and then a series of non-electrochemical metallization steps. After each step the evolution of the Ag NRs was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphology and optical transmittance (T) measurements for Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR). The transmittance measurements were interpreted using models based on the Finite Element Method…

Quantitative optical analysis of filler dispersion degree in MWCNT-epoxy nanocomposite

2012

Recently developed methodology of quantitative analysis based on optical analysis of filler particles' area distributions is applied now to estimate the dispersion efficiency of multiwall carbon nanotubes in nanocomposite prepared by solution intercalation method. Experimental parameters of dispersing (temperature, duration and power level of ultrasonication) were optimized and the most effective experimental procedure was determined. The methodology of determination of dispersion parameter is proved by indirect method of light transmittance experiments. The nanocomposite specimens having lower dispersion parameter represented the highest transmittance over the nanocomposite specimens. 2011…