Embedding Procedure for Water Swollen Samples

Author(s):  
Ann M. Thomas ◽  
Virginia Shemeley

Those samples which swell rapidly when exposed to water are, at best, difficult to section for transmission electron microscopy. Some materials literally burst out of the embedding block with the first pass by the knife, and even the most rapid cutting cycle produces sections of limited value. Many ion exchange resins swell in water; some undergo irreversible structural changes when dried. We developed our embedding procedure to handle this type of sample, but it should be applicable to many materials that present similar sectioning difficulties.The purpose of our embedding procedure is to build up a cross-linking network throughout the sample, while it is in a water swollen state. Our procedure was suggested to us by the work of Rosenberg, where he mentioned the formation of a tridimensional structure by the polymerization of the GMA biproduct, triglycol dimethacrylate.

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-372
Author(s):  
Galina A. Tishchenko ◽  
Miroslav Bleha ◽  
Věra Tyráčková ◽  
Tatyana E. Sukhanova ◽  
Svetlana A. Gulevskaya ◽  
...  

The morphology of polyacrylonitrile composite membranes containing microdispersions of ion exchange resins was investigated by gas adsorption, mercury porosimetry, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The relation between the structure, hydration and permeability of composite membranes at the transmembrane difference of pH and pNa was studied.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4521 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
URFA BIN TAHIR ◽  
DENG QIONG ◽  
WANG ZHE ◽  
LI SEN ◽  
LIU YANG ◽  
...  

Tokophrya species are either free-living or facultative ectosymbiotic suctorians associated with copepods, isopods, mysids, decapods and amphipods. Tokophrya huangmeiensis in particular is found to be epizoic with the redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus Von Martens, 1868, which has been observed as part of an ongoing investigation of freshwater ciliates biodiversity in Huanggang, Hubei, China (Tahir et al. 2017). This first study on T. huangmeiensis based on morphological features using light microscopy and small subunit ribosomal DNA sequence (Tahir et al. 2017), suggested that more detailed descriptions on the physiological and structural changes of this species should be done. Thus, in this study, we looked at the ultrastructures of T. huangmeiensis using electron microscopy, including both scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3146-3151 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Czerwosz ◽  
P. Byszewski ◽  
R. Diduszko ◽  
H. Wronka ◽  
P. Dluźewski ◽  
...  

C60/C70: Ni films with 1.5 wt. % Ni concentration obtained by vacuum deposition under different thermal conditions have been investigated. The structural changes of the layers were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, electron and x-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The polycrystalline structure was detected for the layers grown at approximately 450 K on the substrate. At elevated temperature and maintained temperature gradient on the substrate during the process, the changes of the layer's structure and the formation of Ni microcrystals were observed. The Ni microcrystals (5–10 nm in the diameter) and the elongated shapes dimensioned 10 × 150 nm were perceived.


1987 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Stobbs

ABSTRACTT.E.M. methods are described for the quantitative characterisation of the compositional and structural changes at interfaces and in homo- and hetero-phase multilayer structures. Many of the newer approaches described including the Fresnel and Centre Stop Dark Field Imaging Methods were developed specifically for such characterisations. The range of applications of each of the techniques is assessed as is the importance of delineating the limiting effects of inelastic and inelastic/elastic multiple scattering.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (13) ◽  
pp. 3979-3985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rustem I. Litvinov ◽  
Chandrasekaran Nagaswami ◽  
Gaston Vilaire ◽  
Henry Shuman ◽  
Joel S. Bennett ◽  
...  

Abstract The divalent cation Mn2+ and the reducing agent dithiothreitol directly shift integrins from their inactive to their active states. We used transmission electron microscopy and laser tweezers-based force spectroscopy to determine whether structural rearrangements induced by these agents in the integrin αIIbβ3 correlate with its ability to bind fibrinogen. Mn2+ increased the probability of specific fibrinogen-αIIbβ3 interactions nearly 20-fold in platelets, and both Mn2+ and dithiothreitol increased the probability more than 2-fold using purified proteins. Of 3 αIIbβ3 conformations, closed with stalks touching, open with stalks separated, and globular without visible stalks, Mn2+ and dithiothreitol induced a significant increase in the proportion of open structures, as well as structural changes in the αIIbβ3 headpiece. Mn2+ also increased the number of complexes between fibrinogen and purified αIIbβ3 molecules, all of which were in the open conformation. Finally, Mn2+ induced the formation of αIIbβ3 clusters that resulted from interactions exclusively involving the distal ends of the stalks. These results indicate that there is a direct correlation between αIIbβ3 activation and the overall conformation of the molecule. Further, they are consistent with the presence of a linked equilibrium between single inactive and single active αIIbβ3 molecules and active αIIbβ3 clusters. (Blood. 2004;104:3979-3985)


2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (32) ◽  
pp. 1350239
Author(s):  
SAMRAT MUKHERJEE ◽  
JAYDIP BASU ◽  
DIPANKAR DAS

In this paper, ferrogels comprising nanocrystalline Fe 3 O 4 and γ- FeOOH dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol gel matrix were synthesized via a novel route, without using any cross-linking agent. A moderately high-pressure environment instead was used for the synthesis. The ferrogels were found to be stable over a long period of time and were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Mössbauer spectroscopy and DC magnetization studies. TEM studies showed that the particles are mostly spherical with an average size of 10 nm. Mössbauer spectra of the as prepared gels at different temperatures showed the presence of superparamagnetic particles in them. The gels were found to be magnetically ordered at 20 K giving characteristic six-finger Mössbauer patterns. Bulk magnetic properties of the gels were studied by DC magnetization measurements.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Feng Zhang

Abstract: Hitachi Lab-in-Gap transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technologies are introduced. The term Lab-in-Gap refers to a special function that allows in situ and in operando TEM studies of materials in gas or liquid environments while stimulations, such as thermal or electrical fields, are applied to the specimen sitting in the pole piece gap in a TEM system. Physical or chemical process can be activated and imaged in real time using TEM or other imaging modes. The new generation environmental TEM platform with large pole piece gap and advanced aberration correctors opens wide possibilities for integrating multiple stimuli sources as well as large-area, sub-Å resolution live imaging for dynamic structural changes.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Maselli ◽  
Ruth Furukawa ◽  
Susanne A. M. Thomson ◽  
Richard C. Davis ◽  
Marcus Fechheimer

ABSTRACT Hirano bodies are paracrystalline actin filament-containing structures reported to be associated with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the biological function of Hirano bodies remains poorly understood, since nearly all prior studies of these structures were done with postmortem samples of tissue. In the present study, we generated a full-length form of a Dictyostelium 34-kDa actin cross-linking protein with point mutations in the first putative EF hand, termed 34-kDa ΔEF1. The 34-kDa ΔEF1 protein binds calcium normally but has activated actin binding that is unregulated by calcium. The expression of the 34-kDa ΔEF1 protein in Dictyostelium induces the formation of Hirano bodies, as assessed by both fluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Dictyostelium cells bearing Hirano bodies grow normally, indicating that Hirano bodies are not associated with cell death and are not deleterious to cell growth. Moreover, the expression of the 34-kDa ΔEF1 protein rescues the phenotypes of cells lacking the 34-kDa protein and cells lacking both the 34-kDa protein and α-actinin. Finally, the expression of the 34-kDa ΔEF1 protein also initiates the formation of Hirano bodies in cultured mouse fibroblasts. These results show that the failure to regulate the activity and/or affinity of an actin cross-linking protein can provide a signal for the formation of Hirano bodies. More generally, the formation of Hirano bodies is a cellular response to or a consequence of aberrant function of the actin cytoskeleton.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Gorelik ◽  
U. Kaiser ◽  
Ch. Schubert ◽  
W. Wesch ◽  
U. Glatzel

Hexagonal 6H– and 4H–SiC wafers were implanted with (1−1.5) × 1016 cm−2 germanium ions at room temperature and at 700 °C with subsequent annealing between 1000 and 1600 °C. Structural changes in the SiC matrix were studied in detail by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). After implantation at room temperature the hexagonal SiC matrix becomes amorphous and, after annealing, recrystallizes into cubic SiC. The latter process was accompanied by the creation of voids and cracks. In case of high-temperature (700 °C) implantation, where amorphization was avoided, no polytype change in as-implanted and annealed SiC wafers was observed. In annealed samples nanocrystalline precipitates with high Ge content were observed in high-resolution TEM images.


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