Light microscopy of wood using sanded surface instead of slides

This study compared the magnitude of muscle damage induced when consecutive drop jumps (DJs) were performed on sand vs. firm (wood) surfaces from a height of 0.6 m. Eight subjects performed DJs on a sand surface at a depth of 0.2 m (S condition), and 8 other subjects performed DJs on a wood surface (F condition). Each set consisted of 20 DJs with an interval of 10 seconds between jumps. Subjects performed 5 sets of DJs with 2 minutes between sets. Maximal isometric force, muscle soreness, and plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity were measured immediately before and immediately after the DJ exercise as well as 1, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after the DJ exercise. All measures changed significantly (p < 0.05) after exercise for both conditions; however, significantly (p < 0.05) smaller changes in these measures were evident for the S condition than for the F condition. These results show that DJs on a sand surface induce less muscle damage than on a firm surface. Training on sand may improve aerobic capacity or strength with a low risk of muscle damage.

Multilayer plastic foils are important packaging materials that are used to extend the shelf life of food products and drinks. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging using attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) can be used for the identification and localization of different layers in multilayer foils. A new type of ATR crystal was used in combination with a linear array detector through which large sample areas (400 x 400 microm(2)) could be imaged with a pixel size of 1.6 microm. The method was tested on laminated plastic packing materials containing 5 to 12 layers. The results of the identification of the different materials using ATR-FT-IR were compared with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the layer thickness of the individual layers measured by ATR-FT-IR was compared with polarized light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been demonstrated that individual layers with a thickness of about 3 microm could be identified in multilayer foils with a total thickness ranging from 100 to 150 microm. The results show a spatial resolution of about 4 microm (measured at wavenumbers ranging from 1000 to 1730 cm(-1)), which is about a factor of two better than can be obtained using transmission FT-IR imaging. An additional advantage of ATR is the ease of sample preparation. A good correspondence was found between visible and FT-IR images. The results of ATR-FT-IR imaging were in agreement with those obtained by LM, SEM, and DSC. ATR-FT-IR is superior to the combination of these techniques because it delivers both spatial and chemical information.

In predicting and measuring laser effect on retinal tissue for most of the visible to near infrared spectrum, one is concerned with the melanosome as the major absorber of incident energy. Differences in the location and density of melanosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium may have an impact on the effect of laser energy delivered to those tissues. Current models use estimates of numbers of melanosomes usually in an even distribution across a 5 - 8 micrometer deep volume. The goal of our study is to identify the three-dimensional distribution of melanosomes within the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) for the use of those modeling laser tissue effects. We examined normal retinal pigment epithelium using three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction from images obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), light microscopy (LM) and confocal microscopy. Images were captured on a digital camera system attached to the microscope for both the transmission electron and light microscopy. Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed after digital deconvolution of microscopic images (Vaytek, Inc.). Three- dimensional images were then utilized for analysis of distribution of melanosomes and organelles within the pigment epithelial block. The distribution of melanosomes will be useful for accurate mathematical modeling of laser impact on the retina.

The aim of this study is to examinethe physical from of the powder particles of the dental materials by microscopical examination.Dried powder can't beexamined microscopically with ordinary transmitted light microscope, but need special microscope like reflected light microscope or electron microscope.In this study a new technique for microscopical examination of the powder particles was performed with transmitted light microscope by using a special indicator named "Taha Indicator".The technique is easy,cheep and give clear and accurate image of the powder particles, so it can be used in studies and researches as a method for evaluation, comparison and differentiation between thedifferent types of thematerial, it has a great benefit for the industration and in discovering the industrial deceit of dental materials.

Comparative Researches on the Roughness of Sanded Wooden Surfaces with Wide Belt and Abrasive Brushes

Chronologies of earlywood vessel size of ring- porous trees contain valuable ecological information, but long preparation procedures limit their application in eco- logical studies. Recent and fast techniques for wood surface preparation combined with automated image analysis are reducing the work needed to build chronolo- gies, but might also entail measurement inaccuracy. In this study, we aim to evaluate the effect of a possible effi- ciency-accuracy trade-off on ecological signal strength. To this end, we compare measurements of mean vessel area from two recent and fast procedures carried out on sanded wood surfaces with a reference procedure based on an accurate survey from thin sections. Measurements were performed on increment cores of 15 sessile oaks (Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.) for the period 1956-2006. Dissimilarities in results with the reference procedure were quantified and evaluated. Our data show that the workload can be reduced by more than 20-fold when using the highly automated procedure. Signal weakening caused by mea- surement errors is negligible for vessels (6,000 lm 2 and can be easily compensated by increasing the sample size. Manual correction of misrecognized vessels hardly reduced this error further. The new procedures constitute a major step towards an efficient and accurate analysis of early- wood vessel chronologies of ring-porous tree species.

The metrology of processed wood surfaces is complex due to the presence of wood anatomical cavities, which are a factor of bias in several metrological steps, from the measuring to the evaluation of the surface quality. Wood requires special recommendations, and one regards the use of a robust Gaussian regression filter for filtering the roughness. The filter was previously tested with success on wood surfaces and was used in this paper. Furthermore, a reliable quantification of the processing roughness requires that independent wood anatomical data be removed from the evaluation. The paper presents a method of separating the roughness induced by processing from the wood anatomical structure. It was tested on different wood species, sanded with various grit sizes, and on a plastic material included for comparisons. The results showed similar values of the processing roughness for materials sanded with the same grit size, in spite of their different structures. The method could further be used for optimization of processing parameters at sanding.

Structural imaging using light microscopy is a cornerstone of histology and cytology. However, the utility of the optical microscope for diagnostic imaging is limited by the fundamental tradeoff between the field of view and spatial resolution and a reliance on exogenous dyes to generate sufficient image contrast. Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM) is a complex imaging modality with the potential to overcome these limitations by recovering high-resolution images of sample amplitude and phase from a set of low-resolution raw images captured under inclined illumination. In this article we explore the application of FPM to clinical imaging using a simple, low-cost FPM system and simulated and experimental data to explore the influence of both image acquisition parameters and hardware configuration on image quality and imaging throughput. The practical performance of the method is investigated by imaging peripheral blood films and histological tissue sections. We find that, at the cost of increased computational complexity, FPM increases the information capture capacity of the optical microscope significantly, allowing label-free examination and quantification of features such as tissue and cell morphology over large sample areas.

Pollen morphology of Himalayan Pinus and Quercus and its importance in palynological studies in Himalayan area

A microscopic description and ultrastructural characterisation of Dientamoeba fragilis: An emerging cause of human enteric disease

The effect of geopolymer cement on the compressive strength and resistance to sulphuric acid of concrete made with type 10 and type 50E cements was studied. Hydration products and microstructure of various concrete mixtures incorporating geopolymer cement were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmitted light microscopy in order to identify the mechanisms underlying the effects of the geopolymer cement on concrete properties. Experimental results indicate that using geopolymer cement as partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) effectively improved both the compressive strength and resistance to sulphuric acid. Replacement of 50% OPC by geopolymer cement increased the 28-day compressive strength by about 50% and reduced the mass loss of concrete specimens subjected to eight weeks of immersion in sulphuric acid solutions with pH of 0·3 and 0·6 by 42% and 30%, respectively. The effect of geopolymer cement on the compressive strength and sulphuric acid resistance of concrete made with type 50E cement was less significant than that for concrete made with type 10 cement. Results of XRD, SEM and light microscopy indicate that improvements in compressive strength and sulphuric acid resistance of the geopolymer modified concrete can be mainly attributed to the formation of new hydration products such as calcium–magnesium–aluminium-oxide silicates. A direct relationship between the ability of geopolymer modified concrete specimens to resist sulphuric acid and their normal 28-day compressive strength was found, but varied with the binder used.

Advances in the biological sciences have given rise for the need to visualize microscopic structures of interest. As the requirement to see specific structure and sub-resolution details arise, investigators have turned to fluorescent probes to label and observe these details, which are often undetectable using conventional methods in light microscopy. Fluorescence microscopy offers many advantages for visualizing specific structure and sub-resolution details, which are often undetectable using transmitted light microscopy. Recent advances in fluorescent probe and microscope design, as well as imaging instrumentation designed for fluorescence applications, are now permitting life-science researchers to view details in regions of interest with increasing precision, accuracy, and resolution.

The objectives of this study were to analyze the effect of pH on the growth and activity of osteoclasts treated with different doses of two nitrogen-containing BPs, zoledronate and alendronate. Murine osteoclasts cultured on dentine disks were treated with zoledronate (50 or 500nM) or alendronate (500 or 5μM) at two different pH values (7.4 or 7.0). Osteoclasts were counted with transmitted light microscopy, apoptosis/necrosis was studied with flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, and resorption pit number and depth were calculated using reflected light and scanning electron microscopy. The osteoclast count on dentine disks was significantly (p < 0.001) reduced by zoledronate or alendronate treatment at pH7.0 in comparison to treatment with the same doses at pH7.4 and untreated disks (controls). The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly increased by treatment with 500nM zoledronate or 5μM alendronate at pH7.0 in comparison to the same doses at pH7.4. The number and depth of resorption pits were significantly lower in disks treated at each BP dose studied than in untreated controls at pH7.0. Zoledronate and alendronate at therapeutic doses have an adverse effect on the viability and resorptive activity of osteoclasts when the local medium pH is reduced. These findings suggest that periodontal or peri-implant oral cavity infection may be a key trigger of the cascade of events that lead to BRONJ.

The present paper describes the size range ofTernidens deminutusfrom human and baboon hosts in Rhodesia and discusses the possible reasons for the differences noted.Using transmitted light and the scanning electron microscope, the external morphology ofT. deminutushas been re-studied and compared to investigations by other authors using transmitted light microscopy alone.The paper also illustrates the value of the scanning electron microscope in morphological studies in helminthology, especially when used in conjunction with the light microscope, to give an excellent three-dimensional picture of the species under investigation.It is intended to follow this work with further studies on the anatomy, histology, ultrastructure and histochemistry ofTernidens deminutus.

The late 1800s saw a great effort on the part of microscope manufacturers to understand the basis of image quality, resolution, and contrast in their products. There was also a perceived commercial advantage in having a product that could be marketed as “scientifically designed.” Both of these aims were achieved through the work of Ernst Abbe, a physicist who worked at the microscope factory of Carl Zeiss. This chapter explains the seminal contributions of Abbe to the construction of microscope objectives and his diffraction theory and its role in image formation in the light microscope. The diffraction theory of Abbe and his experimental sets of gratings, apertures, and lenses used to observe the diffraction pattern in the back focal plane of the microscope objective provided evidence that there is an upper limit to the ability of a lens to resolve very fine spatial details. An optical imaging system uses surfaces that refract (lenses) and/or reflect (mirrors) the light from an object to form its image. This chapter also explains how a lens forms the image of an object; describes the role of diffraction in the process of image formation; and shows how the collection angle of the objective, the refractive index of the medium between the specimen and the objective, and the wavelength of the light affect the limiting optical resolution. Finally, it discusses how optical aberrations confound this limit, derived on the basis of diffraction theory in the absence of aberrations. 3.1 The Contributions of Abbe In the beginning of the 19th century, there were attempts to provide a scientific basis to imaging in the optical microscope. Both Fraunhofer and Airy attempted to use the theory of diffraction and interference to understand image formation. Nevertheless, it was in Jena, Germany, where Ernst Abbe made his important contribution to this problem. Abbe studied physics and mathematics, first two years at University of Jena, and then three additional years at University of GA¶ttingen, where he concentrated on the theory and practice of precision measurements. Abbe took courses that included individual practice on the construction of precision measuring instruments.