Cation exchange capacity (CEC) characterizes the number of fixed negative charges of plant cell walls and is an important parameter in studies dealing with the uptake of ions into plant tissues, especially in roots. Conventional methods of CEC determination use bulk tissue, the results are the mean of many cells, and differences in the CEC of different tissue types are masked. Energy-dispersive microanalysis (EDX) in the transmission electron microscope allows CEC determinations on much finer scales. Shoot and fine root tissue of Picea abies was acid washed to remove exchangeable cations. Tissue blocks or semithin tissue sections were loaded with 0.2 mM CaCl2, AlCl3, or Pb(NO3)2 at pH 4.0. The amount of Ca, Al, or Pb adsorbed to the exchange sites of cell walls was determined by EDX. The CEC of cell walls of different tissue types was highly different, ranging in shoot tissues from 0 to 856 mM Ca and 5.8 to 1463 mM Al (block loading) or 4.3 to 1116 mM Ca and 0 to 2830 mM Al (section loading). In root tissue, Pb adsorption to semithin sections yielded CEC values between 29.1 and 954 mM Pb. In most P. abies shoot tissues, the binding capacity was clearly higher for Al than for Ca.

The regular periodontal practice of scaling and root planing produces a smear layer on the root surface that is detrimental to the readhesion of tissues during subsequent regeneration therapy. Although it has been demonstrated that gels containing the chelating agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) can assist in the removal of this contaminating layer, no quantitative method is yet available by which to evaluate the efficiency of the treatment. In this article, the power of atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a technique for monitoring and mapping the surfaces of dentinal roots is demonstrated. Roughness parameters of teeth that had been scaled and root planed were determined from AFM images acquired both before and after treatment with EDTA. The results confirmed that EDTA is an efficient cleaning agent and that dentinal samples free from a smear layer are significantly rougher than the same samples covered by a contaminating layer. AFM analysis is superior to alternative methods involving scanning electron microscopy because the same sample section can be analyzed many times, thus permitting it to be used as both the control and the treatment surface.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies in the 1960s and early 1970s using conventional thin section and freeze fracture methodologies revealed ultrastructural bacterial spore appendages. However, the limited technology at that time necessitated the time-consuming process of imaging serial sections and reconstructing each structure. Consequently, the distribution and function of these appendages and their possible role in colonization or pathogenesis remained unknown. By combining high resolution field emission electron microscopy with TEM images of identical bacterial spore preparations, we have been able to obtain images of intact and sectioned Bacillus and Clostridial spores to clearly visualize the appearance, distribution, resistance (to trypsin, chloramphenicol, and heat), and participation of these structures to facilitate attachment of the spores to glass, agar, and human cell substrates. Current user-friendly commercial field emission scanning electron microscopes (FESEMs), permit high resolution imaging, with high brightness guns at lower accelerating voltages for beam sensitive intact biological samples, providing surface images at TEM magnifications for making direct comparisons. For the first time, attachment structures used by pathogenic, environmental, and thermophile bacterial spores could be readily visualized on intact spores to reveal how specific appendages and outer spore coats participated in spore attachment, colonization, and invasion.

A growing problem in cardiac drug toxicity has been blamed on the lack of adequate testing prior to authorization for prescription use. This study offers an effective alternative to the current method of in vivo pharmaceutical testing, which is time and cost prohibitive. We have accomplished this by developing the novel three-dimensional heart tube model. At the “heart” of our model lies our patented collagen scaffold that enables the cardiac myocytes to display an in vivo–like architecture. The cardiac myocytes were cocultured with the collagen tube for a period of 5 weeks, resulting in the heart tubes. Our heart tubes were treated with specific drugs (nifedipine, isoproterenol, and lidocaine) at varying concentrations. The percent of apoptotic cells was calculated based on observing the number of cells that labeled positive for caspase-3 via confocal microscopy. All three drugs exhibited negative effects at high concentrations in that the number of living cells decreased. Lidocaine showed an increase in apoptosis at concentrations of 75 μM and above. This may indicate that certain drugs have a minimum concentration level that must be reached before the cells experience apoptosis from the toxic levels.

A multicomponent Fe-Cu based steel is studied using atom-probe tomography. The precipitates are identified using two different methodologies and subsequent morphological and compositional results are compared. The precipitates are first identified using a maximum separation distance algorithm, the envelope method, and then by a concentration threshold method, an isoconcentration surface. We discuss in detail the proper selection of the parameters needed to delineate precipitates utilizing both methods. The results of the two methods exhibit a difference of 44 identified precipitates, which can be attributed to differences in the basis of both methods and the sensitivity of our results to user-prescribed parameters. The morphology of the precipitates, characterized by four different precipitate radii and precipitate size distribution functions (PSDs), are compared and evaluated. A variation of less than ∼8% is found between the different radii. Two types of concentration profiles are compared, giving qualitatively similar results. Both profiles show Cu-rich precipitates containing Fe with elevated concentrations of Ni, Al, and Mn near the heterophase interfaces. There are, however, quantitative disagreements due to differences in the basic foundations of the two analysis methods.

We introduce a simple preparation method for ultrathin carbon support films that is especially useful for high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) of nanoparticles. Oxidized iron nanoparticles were used as a test sample in a demonstration of this method. The film qualities are discussed on the basis of electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and image analysis techniques such as thickness maps and histograms. We carried out a comparison between the homemade and commercial film qualities. The relative thickness of the homemade support films was 0.6 times less than that of the commercial films, which was calculated from the EELS analysis, whereas the thicknesses of both carbon support films varied within about 3%. The percentage of the observable area was about 67 ± 7.6% of the support film. This was about twice as large as the commercial film (32 ± 9.3%). The HREM image of the sample prepared with our support film improved 9% in brightness and 15% in contrast compared with images obtained with the commercial support.

This article describes a simple shield that can be placed on typical commercial heating holders to reduce the thermal signal during heating to reasonable levels for in situ energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. The improved temperature capability provided by the shield is demonstrated by initial compositional analysis results obtained across a solid–liquid interface on Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy powder particles. Considerations in the design of and improvement for the shield are discussed.

Morphological and chemical characteristics were determined for airborne tungsten particles in Fallon, Nevada, a town that is distinguishable environmentally by elevated airborne tungsten and cobalt. From samples of airborne dust collected previously at six different places in Fallon, tungsten-rich dust particles were isolated and analyzed with automated electron microprobe and wavelength-dispersive spectrometry. Representative W particles were further analyzed using transmission electron microscopy. Morphologically, Fallon W particles are angular and small, with minimum and maximum sizes of ≤1 μm and 5.9 μm in diameter, respectively. The number and size of tungsten-rich particles decrease in Fallon with distance from a hard-metal facility located near the center of town. Chemically, Fallon airborne W particles include mixtures of tungsten with cobalt plus other metals such as chromium, iron, and copper. No W-rich particles were identifiable as CaWO4 (scheelite) or MnWO4 (huebnerite). From d-spacings, Fallon particles are most consistent with identification as tungsten carbide. Based on these multiple lines of evidence, airborne W particles in Fallon are anthropogenic in origin, not natural. The hard-metal facility in Fallon processes finely powdered W and W-Co, and further investigation using tracer particles is recommended to definitively identify the source of Fallon's airborne tungsten.

Atomic force spectroscopy (AFS) was used to measure interaction forces between the tip and nanostructured layers of poly(o-ethoxyaniline) (POEA) in pure water and CuSO4 solutions. When the tip approach and retraction were carried out at low speeds, POEA chains could be physisorbed onto the Si3N4 tip via nonspecific interactions. We conjecture that while detaching, POEA chains were stretched and the estimated chain lengths were consistent with the expected values from the measured POEA molecular weight. The effects from POEA doping could be investigated directly by performing AFS measurements in a liquid cell, with the POEA film exposed to liquids of distinct pH values. For pH ≥ 6.0, the force curves normally displayed an attractive region for POEA, but at lower pH values—where POEA is protonated—the repulsive double-layer forces dominated. Measurements in the liquid cell could be further exploited to investigate how the film morphology and the force curve are affected when impurities are deliberately introduced in the liquid. The shape of the force curves and the film morphology depended on the concentration of heavy metal in the liquid cell. AFS may therefore be used to study the interaction between film and analyte, with important implications for the understanding of mechanisms governing the sensing ability of taste sensors.

Image Analysis of Food Microstructure. John C. Russ. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL; 2005, 369 pages. ISBN 0-8493-2241-3

Understanding food microstructure is fundamental to understanding the changes fresh fruit and vegetables undergo during development, postharvest, and during processing and preservation treatments, such as canning, drying, and freezing. Microstructure is also important in manufactured foods and in the development of new types of foods to give insight into the way in which ingredients respond when mixed with others and how they compete for space in a volume. Microstructure is important for food scientists because it gives rise to quality aspects, including texture, color, and palatability of foods. Finding innovative ways to examine food microstructure not only helps the fundamental understanding but also allows us to solve problems for industry when products fail.

Following is a list of microscopy-related meetings and courses.