Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Elemental Distribution (elemental + distribution)
Selected AbstractsElemental distributions in femoral bone of rat under osteoporosis preventive treatmentsJOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY, Issue 3 2006M. D. YNSA Summary One of the abnormalities of bone architecture is osteoporosis as occurring in post-menopausal women. Especially long bones, such as femur, become more fragile and more prone to fracture. The efficiency of several osteoporosis preventative treatments based on oestrogen and progestin in bone structure and mineral recovery was studied using ovariectomized Wistar rats as an osteoporosis experimental model. Diagonal cross-sections of the proximal epiphysis of femoral bones were analysed using nuclear microscopy techniques in order to map and determine the concentration profiles of P, Ca, S, Fe and Zn from the epiphysis to diaphysis and across the cortical and trabecular bone structures. In control animals (not ovariectomized), the S and Zn contents significantly characterized differences between cortical and trabecular bone structures, whereas P and Ca showed increased gradients from the epiphyseal region to the diaphysis. After ovariectomy the differences observed were differential according to the type of hormonal supplementation. A significant decrease in P and Ca contents and depletion of minor and trace minerals, such as S, Fe and Zn, were found for both cortical and trabecular bone structures after ovariectomy relative to controls. Bone mineral contents were reversed to control levels by synthetic oestrogen supplementation, and combined oestrogen and progesterone treatment. Recovery was more evident in the femoral epiphysis and neck than in the diaphysis. The use of oestrogen alone did not lead to bone recovery after ovariectomy. Alterations in bone mineral composition observed for animals receiving synthetic oestrogen and combined oestrogen and progesterone supplement might reflect beneficial structural changes in critical regions of long bones, mostly affected in post-menopausal osteoporosis. [source] Design of Ceramic Materials for Chemical Sensors: Effect of SmFeO3 Processing on Surface and Electrical PropertiesJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 2 2001Hiromichi Aono Perovskite-type SmFeO3 powders were prepared by the thermal decomposition of a heteronuclear complex, Sm(Fe(CN)6)·4H2O and by solid-state reaction between the corresponding single oxides, Sm2O3 and Fe2O3. The thermal decomposition behavior of the complex was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray diffractometry was used to investigate the structure of the products from the complex thermal decomposition and the formation of SmFeO3 from the oxide mixture. Powders prepared by both methods were used to deposit thick films onto alumina substrates with comb-type gold electrodes. The microstructure and chemical homogeneity of the film surfaces were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. Thick SmFeO3 single-phase films having a homogeneous elemental distribution on the surface were obtained when powder prepared by thermal decomposition of the complex was used for deposition, even when the powder was fired at low temperature (800°C). Surface chemical analysis was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The O 1s XPS line was deconvoluted into two peaks, attributed to adsorbed oxygen (Oad) and oxygen in the lattice (Olattice). Quantitative analysis showed that the surface coverage of iron, expressed as Fe/(Fe + Sm), was larger for the films prepared using the solid-state reacted powder. Although the Olattice/(Fe + Sm) atomic ratio was not influenced by the processing procedures (and, thus, by iron surface coverage), the amount of Oad decreased with increasing iron surface coverage. A model of the SmFeO3 surface was used to determine that the outermost layer of the perovskite-type SmFeO3 prepared from the complex consisted mainly of samarium ions that could each bond four adsorbed oxygen ions. A single oxygen ion could adsorb onto an iron ion, and therefore, the content of adsorbed oxygen was lower for the film prepared from the solid-state reacted powders, which showed larger iron surface coverage. Electrical conductance measurements, performed with increasing temperature in different gaseous environments, confirmed these findings. Higher conductances and lower activation energies were observed for the films with larger samarium surface coverage. [source] Nuclear microscopy: A tool for imaging elemental distribution and percutaneous absorption in vivoMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 4 2007Ana Veríssimo Abstract Nuclear microscopy is a technique based on a focused beam of accelerated particles that has the ability of imaging the morphology of the tissue in vivo and of producing the correspondent elemental maps, whether in major, minor, or trace concentrations. These characteristics constitute a strong advantage in studying the morphology of human skin, its elemental distributions and the permeation mechanisms of chemical compounds. In this study, nuclear microscopy techniques such as scanning transmission ion microscopy and particle induced X-ray emission were applied simultaneously, to cryopreserved human skin samples with the purpose of obtaining high-resolution images of cells and tissue morphology. In addition, quantitative elemental profiling and mapping of phosphorus, calcium, chlorine, and potassium in skin cross-sections were obtained. This procedure accurately distinguishes the epidermal strata and dermis by overlapping in real time the elemental information with density images obtained from the transmitted beam. A validation procedure for elemental distributions in human skin based on differential density of epidermal strata and dermis was established. As demonstrated, this procedure can be used in future studies as a tool for the in vivo examination of trans-epidermal and -dermal delivery of products. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Transmission electron microscopy and theoretical analysis of AuCu nanoparticles: Atomic distribution and dynamic behaviorMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 7 2006J.A. Ascencio Abstract Though the application of bimetallic nanoparticles is becoming increasingly important, the local atomistic structure of such alloyed particles, which is critical for tailoring their properties, is not yet very clearly understood. In this work, we present detailed study on the atomistic structure of Au,Cu nanoparticles so as to determine their most stable configurations and the conditions for obtaining clusters of different structural variants. The dynamic behavior of these nanoparticles upon local heating is investigated. AuCu nanoparticles are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy filtering elemental composition mapping (EFECM), which allowed us to study the internal structure and the elemental distribution in the particles. Quantum mechanical approaches and classic molecular dynamics methods are applied to model the structure and to determine the lowest energy configurations, the corresponding electronic structures, and understand structural transition of clusters upon heating, supported by experimental evidences. Our theoretical results demonstrate only the core/shell bimetallic structure have negative heat of formation, both for decahedra and octahedral, and energetically favoring core/shell structure is with Au covering the core of Cu, whose reverse core/shell structure is not stable and may transform back at a certain temperature. Experimental evidences corroborate these structures and their structural changes upon heating, demonstrating the possibility to manipulate the structure of such bimetallic nanoparticles using extra stimulating energy, which is in accordance with the calculated coherence energy proportions between the different configurations. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Nanoanalysis by a high-resolution energy filtering transmission electron microscopeMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 3 2004Masanori Mitome Abstract An energy-filtering transmission electron microscope with 300 kV acceleration voltage was developed and the spatial resolution of elemental distribution images was improved. Observing oxygen monolayers in Al11O3N9, it was shown that the actual resolution attained is up to 0.5 nm. Surface plasmon loss images of silver particles were taken with a resolution of better than 0.4 nm. Furthermore, the sensitivity is sufficiently high to distinguish indium content differences of 2.5 atomic percent in InxAl1-xAs. This performance is good enough to analyze elemental distribution with atomic-level resolution. Furthermore, since analysis with the energy-filtering microscope is easy and practical, nanoanalysis may come into wide use not only in academic fields but also in industry. Microsc. Res. Tech. 63:140,148, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] X-ray spectromicroscopy in soil and environmental sciencesJOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, Issue 2 2010J. Thieme X-ray microscopy is capable of imaging particles in the nanometer size range directly with sub-micrometer spatial resolution and can be combined with high spectral resolution for spectromicroscopy studies. Two types of microscopes are common in X-ray microscopy: the transmission X-ray microscope and the scanning transmission X-ray microscope; their set-ups are explained in this paper. While the former takes high-resolution images from an object with exposure times of seconds or faster, the latter is very well suited as an analytical instrument for spectromicroscopy. The morphology of clusters or particles from soil and sediment samples has been visualized using a transmission X-ray microscope. Images are shown from a cryo-tomography experiment based on X-ray microscopy images to obtain information about the three-dimensional structure of clusters of humic substances. The analysis of a stack of images taken with a scanning transmission X-ray microscope to combine morphology and chemistry within a soil sample is shown. X-ray fluorescence is a method ideally applicable to the study of elemental distributions and binding states of elements even on a trace level using X-ray energies above 1,keV. [source] Delayed changes in T1 -weighted signal intensity in a rat model of 15-minute transient focal ischemia studied by magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescenceMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 3 2006Xuxia Wang Abstract Previous studies have found that rats subjected to 15-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) show neurodegeneration in the dorsolateral striatum only, and the resulting striatal lesion is associated with increased T1 -weighted (T1W) signal intensity (SI) and decreased T2 -weighted (T2W) SI at 2,8 weeks after the initial ischemia. It has been shown that the delayed increase in T1W SI in the ischemic region is associated with deposition of paramagnetic manganese ions. However, it has been suggested that other mechanisms, such as tissue calcification and lipid accumulation, also contribute to the relaxation time changes. To clarify this issue, we measured changes in relaxation times, lipid accumulation, and elemental distributions in the brain of rats subjected to 15-min MCAO using MRI, in vivo 1H MR spectroscopy (MRS), and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SRXRF). The results show that a delayed (2 weeks after ischemia) increase in T1W SI in the ischemic striatum is associated with significant increases in manganese, calcium, and iron, but without evident accumulation of MRS-visible lipids or hydroxyapatite precipitation. It was also found that 15-min MCAO results in acutely reduced N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) ratio in the ipsilateral striatum, which recovers to the control level at 2 weeks after ischemia. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Nuclear microscopy: A tool for imaging elemental distribution and percutaneous absorption in vivoMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 4 2007Ana Veríssimo Abstract Nuclear microscopy is a technique based on a focused beam of accelerated particles that has the ability of imaging the morphology of the tissue in vivo and of producing the correspondent elemental maps, whether in major, minor, or trace concentrations. These characteristics constitute a strong advantage in studying the morphology of human skin, its elemental distributions and the permeation mechanisms of chemical compounds. In this study, nuclear microscopy techniques such as scanning transmission ion microscopy and particle induced X-ray emission were applied simultaneously, to cryopreserved human skin samples with the purpose of obtaining high-resolution images of cells and tissue morphology. In addition, quantitative elemental profiling and mapping of phosphorus, calcium, chlorine, and potassium in skin cross-sections were obtained. This procedure accurately distinguishes the epidermal strata and dermis by overlapping in real time the elemental information with density images obtained from the transmitted beam. A validation procedure for elemental distributions in human skin based on differential density of epidermal strata and dermis was established. As demonstrated, this procedure can be used in future studies as a tool for the in vivo examination of trans-epidermal and -dermal delivery of products. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||