Life Sciences Commons^™

Signal Generation And Contrast Mechanisms In Scanning Electron Acoustic Microscopy, N. Kultscher, L. J. Balk

Scanning Electron Microscopy

In scanning electron acoustic microscopy (SEAM) until now the signal generation is explained mainly by an intermediate production of thermal waves. Though this so-called thermal wave approach has proven to give realistic results for metals, from experimental evidence it seems to fail for other material groups such as ceramics, dielectrics, piezoelectrics and semiconductors. As these material groups are of major technological importance, it is necessary to develop theories which help interpreting those SEAM micrographs obtained for these types of material.

In a comparative manner three different models are discussed in this paper, the well known thermal coupling, the piezoelectric coupling …

Elemental Content Of Anagen Hairs In A Normal Caucasian Population Studies With Proton Induced X-Ray Emission (Pixe), B. Forslind, H. K. Li, K. G. Malmqvist, D. Wiegleb

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The elemental content of anagen hair fibers in a Caucasian population of healthy females and males in the age range 10-69 years was performed to constitute a baseline for further studies of pathological conditions. Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analyses were performed on single hair fibers in triplicates from 103 individuals in order to determine sulfur, zinc, calcium, and chlorine content. The hair fibers were all anagen hairs collected from a site little influenced by genetic and hormonal influences 1.5 cm above the right ear of the probands.

An area 5-8 mm from the follicle bottom was chosen for minimize …

Calcium And Cystic Fibrosis, Godfried M. Roomans

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a generally lethal, congenital, genetic disease of unknown etiology. It is likely that a defective regulation of ion and water transport in exocrine glands and possibly also in other epithelial cells has a central role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Calcium has been implicated in the basic defect underlying CF because of findings of abnormally high calcium levels in some secreted fluids and some cells of CF patients.

Using X-ray microanalysis, we have demonstrated elevated calcium concentrations in cultured fibroblasts and in goblet cells of the bronchial epithelium of CF patients. A factor produced by …

Lipofuscin Accumulation In Cultured Non-Dividing Cells As A Function Of Time And Oxygen Tension, Anders Brunmark, V. Peter Collins, Howard Thaw, Ulf Brunk

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Cultivated human glial cells, kept in a state of density-dependent inhibition of growth, accumulate age-pigment (lipofucsin) within their lysosomal vacuomes with the same characteristics as the corresponding pigment observed in vivo. The rate of formation and accumulation of lipofuscin is greatly accelerated under the conditions of routine cell cultivation in comparison to the in vivo event. Lipofuscin is generally considered to be composed of polymerized products of lipid peroxidation and thus it would be reasonable to suggest that factors which influence lipid peroxidation would also alter the rate of lipofuscin formation. Human glial cells were grown in the presence …

Data Acquisition And Processing Techniques For Voltage Contrast Measurements, F. A. Dibianca, D. G. Johnson, C. R. Bagnell, E. I. Cole, W. V. Oxford, R. H. Propst, C. A. Smith

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The effects of several data acquisition techniques on the accuracy of voltage contrast measurements are studied. In particular, the effect of using a voltage reference region directly connected to an external voltage source in performing the image intensity-to-voltage mapping of a node whose voltage is to be determined is examined. This is found to allow improved voltage measurement. The actual reference curves were obtained by least squares fitting the measured intensity-voltage reference data alternately to a quadratic and a cubic function. In addition, various mapping algorithms are considered including ones based alternately on the use of unprocessed, subtracted and normalized …

Quantitative Renal Vascular Casting In Nephrology Research, Vincent H. Gattone Ii, Andrew P. Evan

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The present paper describes the use of a quantitative renal vascular casting method to study the changes associated with kidney disease. Several animal models of hypertension (spontaneously hypertensive rat, SHR, with its normotensive rat the Wistar Kyoto, WKY; Dahl salt sensitive DS - hypertensive, and salt resistant DR -normotensive) were examined at time points when the systemic blood pressure was rising (6 and 12 weeks of age) and following renal denervation (in SHR-WKY rats). The SHR appears to have a smaller caliber afferent arteriole at both 6 and 12 weeks of age. This difference is probably not entirely due to …

A Review Of Modern Characterization Methods For Semiconductor Materials, T. J. Shaffner

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The manufacture of solid state devices in the microelectronics industry involves crystal growth, slice preparation, diffusion and implantation, oxide and metal deposition, patterning and etching, probe testing and packaging of completed devices. This simplified process flow is adopted in an overview to briefly outline some established as well as newly developed techniques of materials characterization. The complexity of semiconductor processing has imposed greater stringency criteria which have resulted in the revitalization of old methods as well as the development of new techniques capable of extreme sensitivity and spatial resolution.

Examples given for trace impurity and dopant detection include neutron activation …

Plant Ultrastructure In The Scanning Electron Microscope, Susan H. Barnes, Stephen Blackmore

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Preparative techniques which have been used to study internal details of plant cells in the scanning electron microscope are reviewed. A number of methods have previously been described which involve selective extraction of materials from freeze-fractured surfaces and can be referred to as freeze-fracture and cytoplasmic maceration. One of these techniques which involves an extended period of cytoplasmic maceration with dilute osmium tetroxide has been applied to the study of Cichorium intybus (chicory) pollen ontogeny. The results obtained, including changes in the numbers of mitochondria and the form of endoplasmic reticulum during the course of development demonstrate the value of …

Surface Morphology Of Unused And Used Hydromerr-Coated Intravenous Catheters, A. Bylock, E. Hultman, B. Gustavsson, L. E. Linder, I. Curelaru

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Hydromer^R-coated polyurethane (Erythroflex)^R catheters, unused, or intravenously inserted for 2-20 days, were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Both unfixed and fixed (2% glutar-aldehyde in phosphate buffer), and air-or critical-point dried (CPD) specimens were investigated. The catheter segments were sputter-coated with approx. 20 nm gold and studied at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. The specimens were examined for surface depositions, thickness and structure of the Hydromer^R layers, and occurrence of adhering and embedded bacteria.

The outer Hydromer^R layer showed, in the un-used specimens, scratches and fissures, as well as adhering foreign bodies. In used …

Concerning The Problem Of High Depth Resolution Using Ion Sputtering, G. Blaise

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The inhomogeneity of ion bombardment, the angular dependence of sputtering yields and the crystalline orientation of samples are the three main causes of the degradation of resolution with depth. It is possible to reduce these effects by bombarding at low energy (≈ 1 keV). A low-energy ion-bombardment device is described which has been adapted for use on our sputtered thermal-ion source mass spectrometer.

The Quick-Freezing Of Single Intact Skeletal Muscle Fibers At Known Time Intervals Following Electrical Stimulation, Rashid Nassar, Nancy R. Wallace, Isaiah Taylor, Joachim R. Sommer

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Single intact frog skeletal muscle fibers quick-frozen after known time intervals following electrical stimulation are examined electron microscopically in thin sections, after freeze-substitution, in freeze-fracture/etch preparations, and in cryosections prepared for x-ray microprobe analysis. Techniques are described to perform these operations on a single fiber. Notable morphological differences between conventionally fixed and cryopreserved muscle fibers, and between fibers quick- frozen at different post-stimulation intervals are demonstrated.

Scanning Electron Microscopy Of Human Metaphase Chromosomes, T. D. Allen, E. M. Jack, C. J. Harrison, D. Claugher

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Preparative methods for scanning electron microscopy of chromosomes are dependent on the original source of material. Chromosomes extracted from unfixed metaphase cells via isolation buffers tend to show topography and surface morphology which may have been induced by the choice of isolation buffer itself. Furthermore, this type of preparation often precludes any chromosome identification, as many metaphases have been pooled, and also the chromosomes from these preparations are not suitable for the banding techniques regularly used in clinical cytogenetics. Our own approach has been to use the standard cytogenetic approach, starting with methanol-acetic acid fixed, air dried metaphase spreads, allowing …

Deconvolution In Auger Electron Spectroscopy, B. Chornik, H. E. Bishop, A. Le Moel, C. Le Gressus

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Deconvolution calculations have been applied in Auger Electron Spectroscopy to increase resolution and/or to eliminate loss features. We present: i) A short review of the methodology; ii) Recent results obtained in our laboratory in spectroscopy of Al, Ni, Cu, Ag and Te; iii) A discussion on the conditions for the appearance of artefacts originating either in the calculation or the physical processes (emission anisotropy, distribution of electron path lengths, and intrinsic losses).

Analytical Ultra High Vacuum Scanning Electron Microscopy With Field Emission Gun For Surface Study, P. Morin, P. Abraham, C. Bablet, M. Tholomier

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Surface studies can be carried out with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) having an ultra high vacuum specimen chamber. The main application of this SEM was the micro Auger analysis, but it is also interesting to combine the usual surface study technique with SEM observations. Indeed, these latter give valuable in formation about the topographic, chemical and crystallographic aspects of the surface when the secondary, backscattered and transmission SEM modes are used. The SEM performances are increased by the use of a field emission gun, the high brightness beam of this gun gives new observation possibilities such as the imaging …

Cytoskeletal Changes During Adhesion And Release: A Comparison Of Human And Nonhuman Primate Platelets, J. C. Lewis, M. S. White, T. Prater, K. R. Porter, R. J. Steele

Scanning Electron Microscopy

The organization of cytoskeletal proteins in whole-mount adherent platelets from African green monkeys and normal human volunteers has been studied by SEM, high vacuum electron microscopy (HVEM) and conventional (120 kV) electron microscopy. We describe three distinct organizational zones, the Central Matrix, the Trabecular Zone and the Peripheral Web in spread platelets from both sources. The Central Matrix is an ill-defined superstructure of 80-100 Å filaments of short length which enshrouded the granules, dense bodies, mitochondria and elements of the open-channel and dense-tubular systems. The latter, identified through the use of peroxidase cytochemistry with the whole mounts, is an anastomosing …