Digital Commons Network^™

Factors Affecting Fasting Urinary Calcium Excretion In Stone Former Patients On Different Dietary Calcium Intake, Piergiorgio Messa, Giuseppe Mioni, Rossana Franzon, Michele Messa, Aldo Cruciatti, Sandro Giannini, Angela D'Angelo

Scanning Microscopy

The effects of variable calcium content on daily and fasting urinary calcium and other lithogenic solutes excretion, on the bone turnover index (fasting hydroxyproline urinary excretion) and on the calciotropic hormones were studied in 312 stone former patients with an outpatient protocol and 15 stone former patients in an inpatient study. Furthermore in 60 of these patients, 30 while on a low calcium diet (LCD) and 30 on a free calcium home diet (FCD), the effects of an oral calcium load (OCL) on bone turnover index, calciotropic hormones and calcium excretion were evaluated. The results demonstrate that an LCD is …

Acquisition Hardware For Imaging, Peter Rez, J. K. Weiss, W. J. De Ruijter

Scanning Microscopy

In electron microscopy images can either be recorded in parallel (Transmission Electron Microscopy) or acquired as the variation in a signal as a probe is scanned over the specimen (Scanning Electron Microscopy). To extract the most information from an image requires that the best possible systems are used for acquiring image data. Ultimately, the limit to information capture is achieved when every electron from the scattering event of interest is recorded. The ideal system can be realised both for parallel recording with scientific grade CCD cameras, and for scanning microscopy with single electron counting electronics. The data rates from these …

Nonlinear Statistical Filtering And Applications To Segregation In Steels From Microprobe Images, C. Daly, D. Jeulin, D. Benoît

Scanning Microscopy

Microprobe images of solidification studies are well known to be subject to a Poisson noise. That is, the radiation count at a pixel x for a certain element may be considered to be an observation of a Poisson random variable whose parameter is equal to the true chemical concentration of the element at x. By modeling the image as a random function, we are able to use geostatistical techniques to perform various filtering operations. This filtering of the image itself may be done using linear kriging. For explicitely nonlinear problems such as the estimation of the underlying histogram of the …

Simulation For Scanning Electron Microscopy, G. R. Anstis, X. S. Gan

Scanning Microscopy

Simulations of images of surface steps obtained by high energy reflection electron microscopy are presented. It is shown that double images of simple steps, with no associated strain field, may occur when surface resonance conditions are established. Accurate calculation of image intensity requires large calculations and care is needed in relating the computed wave functions to those occurring for a semi-infinite incident wave. Estimates of the time to compute accurate wavefunctions are given and it is shown that they are reasonable for modem fast computers.

Atomic Resolution Electron Holography, K. Ishizuka, T. Tanji, A. Tonomura

Scanning Microscopy

It has been demonstrated that electron holography is a very powerful tool to investigate an electromagnetic potential in medium resolution, since the phase of an electron wave is approximately proportional to the potential. Now, electron holography is at the second stage of development: to establish holography at atomic resolution and further to realize Gabor's idea to improve the resolution restricted by the spherical aberration of the objective lens. We investigate the possibility of electron holography to get information at atomic resolution by computer simulations as well as by digital processing of electron holograms. We show that the phase distribution has …

Holography - Just Another Method Of Image Processing?, Hannes Lichte

Scanning Microscopy

The advantage of all different kinds of electron holography lies in the fact that in addition to the image intensity they make use of the phase in real space and in Fourier space. Therefore, they are in principle superior to conventional imaging techniques, even if these are supported by highly sophisticated methods of image processing. The technique of electron off-axis holography, under development in Tübingen for more than 20 years, now enters atomic resolution domain. After correction of aberrations, amplitudes and phases can be determined quantitatively, both in real space and Fourier space, opening up novel facilities for the analysis …

Image Delocalisation And High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopic Imaging With A Field Emission Gun, W. Coene, A. J. E. M. Jansen

Scanning Microscopy

The high spatial and temporal coherence of a field emission gun (FEG) increases the information limit of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes (HRTEM), but has also its implications on the localisation of the high resolution information in the image. In this paper, we present the results of a combined theoretical and experimental study of delocalisation in HRTEM. First, we derive a spatial frequency analysis of the delocalisation for crystal defects. Next, the delocalisation is studied from a real-space point of view, in terms of the impulse-response function, for which an instructive asymptotic mathematical analysis has been set up. Finally, we present …

Microstructure Of Mica Glass-Ceramics And Interface Reactions Between Mica Glass-Ceramics And Bone, W. Holand, W. Gotz, G. Carl, W. Vogel

Cells and Materials

This review paper characterizes glass-ceramics containing mica as main crystal phase. The phase formation reactions in dependence of the chemical composition and the microstructure are shown. Microstructure of mica glass-ceramics has been studied by electron replica and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) techniques.

Mica glass-ceramics have previously been developed in Si02-B20rA120rMgO-F--base glasses. The material is machinable because of the precipitation of micas of fluorophlogopite-type. Also, a machinable glass-ceramic for dental applications was developed based on KMg2_5(Si40 10)F2-micas. We developed mica glass-ceramics in the Si02-Al20rMgO-NaiO-K20-F glass system. Phase formation within these glasses was observed by SEM. A double controlled nucleation and crystallization …

The Effect Of Polymethylmethacrylate Bone Cement Vibration On The Bone-Cement Interface, A. M. C. Thomas, D. J. W. Mcminn, M. Haddaway, I. W. Mccall

Cells and Materials

Low frequency vibration of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement reduces the viscosity of the cement by shear thinning. The effect of this low frequency vibration on the bone-cement interface was studied using microfocal radiography (MFR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effects were studied in-vitro and in-vivo. In-vitro, samples of Palacos low viscosity PMMA were placed on blocks of Kiel bone and vibrated. MFR and SEM demonstrated an improvement in the appearance of the bone-cement interface. In-vivo, PMMA was injected into the upper tibia of the dog. An assessment of the effect of high and low pressure injection, and the effect of …

Ultrastructural Assessment Of Lesion Development In The Collared Rabbit Carotid Artery Model, J. E. Beesley, A. C. Honey, J. F. Martin

Cells and Materials

Cellular reactions associated with the formation of lesions generated in the carotid artery of rabbits fed either normal or high cholesterol diets by the placement of a flexible, silastic collar around the artery, were studied by electron microscopy.

Endothelial cells remained as a monolayer throughout lesion development. The endothelial cell surface in both experimental and sham operated carotids, 4 hours and 8 hours after the initiation of the experiments, were covered with platelets and leukocytes. Neutrophils were present until 7 days in the arteries from within the collar of animals maintained on a normal diet, but only to 1 day …

Dolores River Basin Water Quality Study, Department Of Interior; Bureau Of Reclamation, Technical Service Center; Denver, Co

Elusive Documents

No abstract provided.

1991-1992 Annual Report, Various Authors

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Objective Measurement Of The Visual Aspect Of Dry Sausage Slices By Image Analysis, A-C. Roudot, F. Duprat, M.-G. Grotte, G. O'Lidha

Food Structure

The visual aspect of food is a problem very often neglected for different reasons; one being the difficulty of modelling vision. However, it has been shown that , on simple synthetic images, automatic sorting in the same manner as human vision is possible.

Distribution heterogeneity of spots within an image is one important parameter for its characterization. A new algorithm was tested over simple numerical pictures that gave good agreement with visual appreciation. Images of twenty dry sausage slices were analyzed and different factors corresponding to aspect structure were calculated. Principal component analyst:s based on these factors all owed discrimination …

Automatic Orientation Analysis Of Microfabric, N. K. Tovey, P. Smart, M. W. Hounslow, J. P. Desty

Scanning Microscopy

The orientation of features in digitized scanning electron micrographs may be estimated using a technique which examines the changes in intensity in two orthogonal directions about each pixel. Typically, over 250, 000 estimates of orientation may be made generating an output image where the pixel value relates to the orientation direction of the feature at the corresponding pixel in the original image. At the same time, a rosette histogram may be generated to give a visual impression of any preferred alignment. These data may be reduced to two parameters specifying the direction and degree of orientation.

A new algorithm involving …

Image-Matching As A Means Of Atomic Structure Evaluation In High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, John C. Barry

Scanning Microscopy

Two of the major applications of the high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) image-matching technique are: a) to refine the structure of defects and interfaces in crystals, and b) to identify minority phases in multi-phase materials. An important advantage of the technique is that it provides spatial information at the atomic level; but an important disadvantage is that the results are often hard to quantify. There are many factors which affect the precision of the image-matching technique, and methods for measuring the pertinent experimental parameters are discussed in this paper. It is shown that if the experimental parameters are known, …

Applications Of Fourier Transform Infrared (Ft-Ir) Microscopy To The Study Of Mineralization In Bone And Cartilage, Adele L. Boskey, Nancy Pleshko, Stephen B. Doty, Richard Mendelsohn

Cells and Materials

Knowledge of the phase, composition, and crystallite size and perfection of the mineral in normal and abnormally calcified tissues provides insight into the mechanism by which this mineral was deposited. These data also can be used to develop rational therapies for pathological conditions characterized by abnormal mineral deposition. As illustrated in this review, coupling of an optical microscope with a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometer permits the mapping at 20 μm spatial resolution of changes in mineral characteristics (content, particle size, composition) in the growth plate, in bone biopsies, in mineralizing cell culture systems, and in soft tissue calcifications. Based …

Molecular Strategies To Improve Protein Quality And Reduce Flatulence In Legumes: A Review, Benito O. De Lumen

Food Structure

The application of recombinant DNA and related techniques to plants opened up the potential to improve agronomic characters. food processing traits and food quality properties of plants as food sources. This review focuses on molecular approaches to improving the protein quality and reducing flatulence in beans. Much is now known about the regulation of seed-specific expression and organization of seed storage protein genes. Several attempts have been made to increase the methionine content of tobacco seeds using heterologous seed protein genes from peas, common bean and soybean. Such techniques could also be used to modify lysine, tryptophan and threonine contents …

Sub-Angstrom Microscopy Through Incoherent Imaging And Image Reconstruction, S. J. Pennycook, D. E. Jesson, M. F. Chisholm, A. G. Ferridge, M. J. Seddon

Scanning Microscopy

Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with a high-angle annular detector breaks the coherence of the imaging process, and provides an incoherent image of a crystal projection. Even in the presence of strong dynamical diffraction, the image can be accurately described as a convolution between an object function, sharply peaked at the projected atomic sites, and the probe intensity profile. Such an image can be inverted intuitively without the need for model structures, and therefore provides the important capability to reveal unanticipated interfacial arrangements. It represents a direct image of the crystal projection, revealing the location of the atomic columns …

Segmentation Of Pores In Backscattered Images Of Sediments And Soils And Their Relationship To Domain Structure, M. W. Hounslow, N. K. Tovey

Scanning Microscopy

A new technique to quantify variations in pore structure across an image is described in this paper. The method involves several stages as the original images are rarely suitable for simple segmentation by the selection of a single threshold. The processing first involves the application of a Wiener filter to remove imaging artefacts and to sharpen the edge of void/particle contacts. This image reconstruction is followed by the selection of a global threshold based on the relative contrast method, to create a binary image separating the voids from the particles. Such an image can be used to evaluate pore structure …

Cathodoluminescence Image Processing Of High Tc Superconductors, Z. Barkay, G. Deutscher, E. Grunbaum

Scanning Microscopy

Cathodoluminescence (CL) in the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was performed for both ceramic pellets and thin films of YBaCuO high T_C superconductors. Image processing provided additional quantitative information. For single phase films, we demonstrated the possibility to create thickness maps in real time from the CL pictures. The gradual thickness variation within the sample was revealed by the histogram of the thickness image. The continuity of the film was observed at a few threshold thicknesses values, defined by the fraction of the occupied area. At the conduction threshold value, the location and width of the conducting paths could be …

A Model For A Model: Pressure Jackets On Nude Mice With Implants Of Hypertrophic Scars, C. Ward Kischer, Jana Pindur

Cells and Materials

The hypertrophic scar, a consequence of deep surface injury, is peculiar to humankind. Subcutaneous implants of these tissues in nude mice provide a quasi - animal model for experimental use. An efficacious treatment to promote acceleration of maturation of the hypertrophic scar is controlled topical pressure produced by flexible dacron fabric wraps. Implants in the nude mouse provide a model for study of the effects of pressure. Preliminary results indicate that those implants in nude mice, responding favorably to pressure jackets, show changes consistent with those previously obtained in human studies. The collagen matrix shows reduced density and parallel layering …

Quantitative Scanning Electron Microscopy (Sem) To Study The Adhesion And Spreading Of Human Endothelial Cells To Surface-Modified Poly(Carbonate Urethane)S, C. James Kirkpatrick, Tillmann Otterbach, Dirk Anderheiden, Johannes Schiefer, Horst Richter, Hartwig Hartwig Hocker, Christian Mittermayer, Albert Dekker

Cells and Materials

The polymers currently in use as vascular prostheses are, in the native state, poor substrates for endothelial cell (EC) adhesion and growth. This has a negative effect on the success of pre-seeding regimes. One attempt to improve the polymer substrate is to covalently couple reactive molecules to the surface, which can be used as anchorage points for EC or serve as spacer molecule to couple biological signal molecules such as oligopeptides. We have used a digitized image analysis system coupled to a scanning electron microscope to study the adhesion and spreading of human venous EC to unmodified poly(carbonate urethane) (uPCU), …

Comparative Assessment Of The Cytotoxicity Of Various Substrates In Organ Culture And Cell Culture: A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study, J. L. Duval, R. Warocquier-Clerout, M. F. Sigot-Luizard

Cells and Materials

A comparative study of the behavior of chick embryo endothelial cells grown on various substrates was performed in order to establish the reliability and the limitation of both cell and organ culture methods. Following substrates were analyzed to compare these two different culture techniques: bovine serum albumin, pigskin gelatin and albumin + gelatin cross-linked by glutaraldehyde or carbodiimide, fibrin glue and negative control (Thermanox*). Parameters of cell growth and adhesion were calculated and compared with electron microscopic observations of cell morphology and of the extracellular matrix. Both culture methods provided complementary results and led to a similar classification of the …

Scanning Electron Microscopy Of The Bone Interface With Titanium, Titanium Alloy And Hydroxyapatite, R. D. Orr, J. D. De Bruijn, J. E. Davies

Cells and Materials

Screw implants of commercially pure titanium and titanium alloy together with rods of slip-cast dense hydroxyapatite were implanted transfemorally in young adult rats. The femora were harvested after fixation and freeze-fractured in liquid nitrogen to create two tissue fragments of each specimen. The first contained the implant while the second enabled examination of the tissue immediately adjacent to the implant. In all cases, the tissue abutting the implant was a cement line-like layer which separated the implant from the surrounding bone proper. Greater adherence of this interfacial tissue was demonstrated to hydroxyapatite samples compared with the titanium screws, while no …

Effects Of Processing On The Microstructure Of Oat (Avena Sativa) Bran Concentrate And The Physicochemical Properties Of Isolated B-Glucans, K. Autio, Y. Malkki, T. Virtanen

Food Structure

Fluorescence microscopy was used to study the microstructure of oat cell walls during concentration of oat bran and isolation of ,B-glucans. The bran concentrate separated from c.v. Nasta contained mainly the aleurone and subaleurone endosperm layers, whereas that separated from a commercial bran mixture contained more endosperm . In contrast to Nasta, the commercial bran mixture contained ,B-glucan degrading enzymes, which survived the ,B-glucan isolation procedure. In the presence of enzymes, the solubility and yield of ,B-glucans improved but the viscosity decreased when it was measured at the same ,B-glucan concentration. For inactivation of the enzymes, 80% ethanol at 78 …

Computer Modeling: The Adjunct Micro Technique For Lipids, J. W. Hagemann, J. A. Rothfus

Food Structure

Chemistry by computer provides access to microsystem information not readily achieved by other means. Simple computational analysis of saturated triglyceride polymorphism by molecular mechanics within constraints provided by X-ray data show that polymethylene interactions determine hydrocarbon crystal properties when they account for more than 60 percent of the total molecular interaction energy. Modeling predicts multiple , nearly equivalent, a -form triglycerides and a -form character in liquid near-crystalline triglycerides. Symmetrical molecules pack better than asymmetric molecules in a-form configurations and transform readily to 13'forms if activated sufficiently to disrupt lateral chain interaction and allow dimensional displacements during transformation. The formation …

Importance Of Enzymes To Value-Added Quality Of Foods, J. R. Whitaker

Food Structure

New uses of enzymes are of major importance for value-added quality of foods. At the production and postharvest handling levels, enzymes associated with maturation , color , texture, flavor and nutritional changes are important. Recent examples are discussed which include longer storage prior to initiation of ripening , deletion or control of genes that result in softening1 browning and other quality defects and the enhancement of genes that improve the nutritional quality of foods. At the processing level, new uses of enzymes are described to change the properties of proteins and lipids , to eliminate off-flavor in beers and sterilized …

Light Microscopy Measurements Of Ice Recrystallization In Frozen Corn Starch Pastes Using Isothermal Freeze Fixation, C. Ferrero, M. N. Martino, N. E. Zaritzky

Food Structure

Isothermal freeze fixation was used to analyze ice recrystallization by light microscopy in a 10 % (W/W) frozen corn starch paste during storage at temperatures in the range of -5 to -20 °C.

Different formulations were tested in order to obtain a suitable fixative for this method of indirect observation of the ice crystals. A solution of formaldehyde, ethanol and water (10:45:45 V:V) was selected because it minimized substitution-induced distortion and contraction of the matrix. The diffusion coefficients of the selected fixative in the frozen system were measured at different temperatures in conditions of unidirectional mass transfer in a semi …

Scanning Electron Microscopy And Ultraviolet Absorption Microspectrophotometry Of Plant Cell Types Of Different Biodegradabilities, D. E. Akin, L. L. Rigsby

Food Structure

Phenolic components within cell walls are the greatest limitation to biodegradation of plants, but the location and types of compounds within specific walls are poorly understood . Leaf blades of warm-season (Coastal and Coastcross-1 bermuda grasses and sudangrass) and cool-season grasses (orchardgrass and tall fescue) and leaflets of legumes (alfalfa and lespedeza) were evaluated before and after incubation with rumen microorganisms for 7 days to determine cell types and wall structures most resistant to biodegradation. UV absorption microspectrophotometry was used to characterize aromatics within selected undegraded cell types, which had been shown in digestion studies to vary in biodegradability, from …

Microstructural Changes In Retrieved Amalgam Restorations, Grayson W. Marshall Jr., D. D. Mccoy, John H. Kinney, Hugo Letzel, Sally J. Marshall

Cells and Materials

Many blended or dispersed phase high Cu amalgams show excellent clinical performance in long term clinical trials. However, little is known concerning the microstructural changes that occur during clinical use of these systems. This investigation sought to characterize some of the changes that occur in the Ag-Cu particles and their surrounding reaction zones based on a study by backscattered scanning electron microscopy (BSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy and a new rnicroprobe technique called Colorad which assigns various colors to elements and element combinations and indicates changes in elemental concentration by changes in color value (brightness). Restorations were retrieved from clinical trials …