Microscopy staining techniques

Wilkinson, K.J., Stoll, S. and Buffle, J. (1995) Characterization of NOM-colloid aggregates in surface waters coupling transmission electron microscopy staining techniques and mathematical modelling. Fresenius J. Anal. Chem., 351, 54—61. 

Electron and optical microscopes are being used to see blend homogeneity. Elastomer-plastic blends are somewhat easier to identify than elastomer-elastomer blends because normal staining techniques, e.g., osmium tet-raoxide, can be used in the case of plastic-elastomer blends. Normally, there are two methods that are followed for examining the blend surface by electron microscopy. 

Chen S., Cao T., and Jin Y., Ruthenium tetraoxide staining technique for transmission electron microscopy of segmented block copoly(ether-ester), Polym. Commun., 28, 314, 1987. 

A combination of specialized staining techniques and high-resolution microscopy has allowed geneticists... 

Tlie morphology of some bacteria, especially those that form spores, is distinctive enough under the light microscope to have value for identification. This means that differential staining techniques, such as the Gram stain or acid-fast stain, and fluorescence microscopy may help to determine the iden-... 

Table 2.1. Filarial nematodes infected with intracellular bacteria. The method of detection is shown. Neither electron microscopy nor the immuno-histochemical staining techniques used are to be regarded as Wolbachia specific (see note). Positive identification of intracellular bacteria as Wolbachia is shown only where PCR amplified products of rRNA or ftsZ genes have been sequenced. ...

During the past two decades, cell-biological and biomedical research has greatly benefited from innovations in fluorescence microscopy. Both the increase in the repertoire of fluorescence staining techniques at the (sub)cellular level and the development of a multitude of novel fluorescence microscopy techniques contributed significantly. 

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) in conjunction with specific staining techniques is best suited to elucidate intracellular trafficking and localization. CLSM is a specific epifluorescence microscopical technique capable of optical cross-sectioning with a spatial resolution of 1 /urn and below [41, 42],... 

The contrast observed in electron microscopy depends largely on differences in atomic composition of the specimen. In this respect the coal macerals do not differ greatly from one another, and so very high contrast between them would not be expected and is not in fact obtained. Despite attempts to overcome this difficulty low contrast remains a serious limiting factor in observing structure. It is possible that staining techniques, as used in electron microscopy of biological specimens, may prove useful. 

Samples for the viscoelastic experiments were prepared by a conventional slow-solvent-evaporation technique (1) followed by vacuum drying. For ease in handling in certain experiments, some samples were lightly cured using a 30-MRad dose of electrons other experiments were carried out on uncured materials. Transmission electron microscopy (Phillips Model 200) was used to investigate possible morphological features in the block polymers and blends. Details of the various staining techniques used are presented elsewhere (1,11,12,13). 

The most facile entry into surface complexation involved hydrolysis of ester-terminated dendrimers (derived from Michael additions of surface NH2 groups to methyl acrylate) with stoichiometric amounts of alkali-metal hydroxides. In this manner, salts of Na+, K +, Cs+, or Rb+ were readily obtained (Scheme 31) as white hygroscopic powders. Dilute solutions of the sodium salts allowed direct observation of the individual dendrimer molecules by scanning transmission electron microscopy without the use of staining techniques [79-81]. Elemental analyses showed that essentially stoichiometric exchanges with divalent cations such as Ca2+ could be performed [164],... 

Owing to its applications in homeland security, sterilization validation, and astrobiology, bacterial spore detection has become a hot field. However, direct detection of bacterial spores can be challenging for the same reasons that make endospores difficult to irradicate. The tough spore coat is impermeable to staining techniques, so most microscopy and flow cytometry methods are not useful. Endospores are also highly resistant to lysis, meaning that common DNA extraction protocols are difficult to perform. The lack of measurable metabolism renders microcalorimetry and cellular respiration techniques ineffective. 

Studies of the antimicrobial and therapeutic properties of silver and its derivatives have yielded an extensive scientific literature, ranging from clinically- to biochemically-based papers. The latter area includes studies in enzymatic and other macromolecular interactions to silver resistance encompassing plasmid-mediated patterns. The reduction to one silver compound (AgSD) in the current British National Formulary and to two compounds (AgSD and silver nitrate ophthalmic solution) in USP XXII may not be a true reflection of the use of silver in health care today. Silver compounds also find use in non-clinical situations, for example, as water disinfectants and, not considered in this review, as silver staining techniques for microscopy. 

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