Measurement of crystal thickness and orientation from selected-area Fourier transformation of a high-resolution electron hologram

Precise knowledge of crystal thickness and orientation is critical for reliable interpretation of high-resolution transmission electron micrographs. In this paper, we propose a criterion of S(2)(T, u, v), which measures the crystal thickness by intensity matching of the selected-area Fourier transform of experimental holograms with the calculated electron diffraction pattern at a series of trial thicknesses (T) and crystal tilts (u, v). This criterion has been demonstrated successfully for local thickness determination from a simulated high-resolution image of a wedge-shaped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) and from an experimental hologram of a Si crystal.

HRTEM analysis of nanocrystallization during uniaxial compression of a bulk metallic glass at room temperature

Nanocrystallization during deformation of metallic glass at room temperature has significant implications to understand its deformation mechanism. We present here direct high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations of nanocrystallization in a Zr(55)AI(10)Ni(5)Cu(30) bulk metallic glass (BMG) fractured by uniaxial compression at room temperature. The formed nanocrystallites are Zr(2)Cu, with the average diameter of less than 10nm, and are distributed within the round-like regions of localized plastic deformation. We also show direct evidence of atomic neighbor distance increases associated with the shrinkage and broadening of diffused ring pattern from local deformed areas, which may enhance atomic mobility so that nanocrystallization occurred. Our results demonstrate that the origin of the room-temperature deformation of BMG can be attributed to the local atomic spacing increases induced by localization of plastic flow under uniaxial compression test.

Differential expression of MT1-MMP (MMP-14) and collagenase III (MMP-13) genes in normal and wounded rat corneas

PURPOSE

Several members of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) group have been identified in the rat cornea during corneal wound healing. The aim of the present study was to identify additional members of the MMP gene family in the rat cornea and localize the expression of membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP; MMP-14) and collagenase III (MMP-13) in normal and wounded corneas.

METHODS

Adult rats underwent laser keratectomy on the right eye. Unwounded left eyes were normal controls. Corneas were collected and processed at different times post-wounding. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and DNA sequencing were used to discover the MMP genes expressed in the corneas. In situ hybridization was performed to localize the mRNA expression of MMP-14 and MMP-13.

RESULTS

MMP-13 mRNA was detected in epithelial cells of wounded corneas, but not in normal controls; MMP-14 was found in both normal and wounded corneas. MMP-14 mRNA was expressed predominantly in the stromal keratocytes and rarely in the basal epithelial cells in normal and wounded corneas. MMP-13 mRNA was localized exclusively to basal cells of the epithelium at the wounded area from 6 hours to 3 days after wounding.

CONCLUSIONS

MMP-14 and MMP-13 expression in rat corneas parallels that of gelatinases A and B, respectively. MMP-13 may play an important role in the gelatinase B-associated proteolytic cascade that allows rapid turnover of the extracellular matrix (ECM) components during corneal wound healing. MMP-14 may contribute to removing abnormal ECM components through activation of gelatinase A in rat corneas.

Plan-view imaging of oxygen-induced reconstruction on Ag(110) surface. II. Effect of high-energy electron thinning

The feasibility and the limitation of the 'high-energy electron thinning' method for the production of surface-science-grade samples in situ in the electron microscope are studied. Exploiting the electron beam supplied by high-voltage electron gun in electron microscope, this method can be readily realized. An obvious advantage of this method is that we can monitor the sample surface concurrently. However, this sample preparation method depends strongly on the sample material and the local environment within the electron microscope. Factors relating to the electron thinning speed are briefly discussed.

Plan-view imaging of oxygen-induced reconstruction on Ag(110) surface. I. The possibility of imaging surface oxygen

Surface reconstruction on Ag(110) induced by oxygen adsorption was studied by the plan-view imaging technique of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). Systematic multislice simulations were carried out to find the optimal experimental conditions for imaging the surface oxygen. It was found theoretically that there exist a series of characteristic values of objective lens defoci and sample thicknesses under which the surface and the bulk can be imaged clearly and simultaneously. These optimal imaging conditions were used to interpret the experimental micrographs. While the basic features of the surface reconstruction of O/Ag(110) in the HREM images are consistent with those revealed by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), there are some new features that have not been reported with STM. These phenomena give some evidence to the existence of subsurface oxygen.

The coherent electron microdiffraction of a single translation domain boundary in β-Ni3Nb phase

The microdiffraction from a single translation domain boundary (TDB) in β-Ni3Nb has been recorded by using a Hitachi HF-2000 field emission gun transmission electron microscope, while high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images were used to assist the analysis. The diffraction splitting effect of a TDB is well explained by the kinematics and dynamic calculations, and complex diffraction characteristics have been studied by using dynamics simulation.

The bile acid-inducible baiF gene from Eubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708 encodes a bile acid-coenzyme A hydrolase

The human intestinal Eubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708 has been shown to have a multistep biochemical pathway for bile acid 7alpha-dehydroxylation. A bile acid-inducible operon encoding 9 open reading frames has been cloned and sequenced from this organism. Several of the genes in this operon have been shown to catalyze specific reactions in the 7alpha-dehydroxylation pathway. The baiF gene from this operon was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, and found to encode a novel bile acid-coenzyme A (CoA) hydrolase. The subunit molecular mass of the purified bile acid-CoA hydrolase was calculated to be 47,466 daltons and the native enzyme had a relative molecular weight of 72,000. The K m and Vmax for cholyl-coenzyme A (CoA) hydrolysis was approximately 175 microm and 374 micromol/min per mg protein, respectively. The enzyme used cholyl-CoA, 3-dehydrocholyl-CoA, and chenodeoxycholyl-CoA as substrates. No hydrolytic activity was detected using acetyl-CoA, isovaleryl-CoA, palmitoyl-CoA, or phenylacetyl-CoA as substrates. Amino acid sequence database searches showed no significant similarity of bile acid-CoA hydrolase to other thioesterases, but significant amino acid sequence identity was found with Escherichia coli carnitine dehydratase. The characteristic thioesterase active site Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly motif was not found in the amino acid sequence of this enzyme. Bile acid-CoA hydrolase from Eubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708 may represent a new family of thioesterases.

Expression of gelatinases A and B, and TIMPs 1 and 2 during corneal wound healing

PURPOSE

To determine the expression of gelatinases A and B and the localization of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 and TIMP-2 during the early stages of corneal wound healing in rats. METHODS. One eye each of 30 adult Sprague-Dawley rats was treated with excimer laser keratectomy; the other eye was untreated. Frozen sections of corneas obtained 6, 18, and 24 hours and 3 and 7 days after wounding were used to perform immunoconfocal microscopy and in situ hybridization.

RESULTS

Gelatinase B was immunolocalized to the basement membrane zone and superficial stroma, and its mRNA was exclusively localized to basal epithelial cells migrating across the wound at 18 and 24 hours and 3 days after wounding. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 was also immunolocalized to the basement membrane zone and superficial stroma at the same time points. Gelatinase A was immunolocalized to the epithelium and stroma of normal corneas and was predominant in the basal epithelium and superficial stroma at 3 and 7 days after wounding. In situ hybridization confirmed gelatinase A expression by the epithelial cells and the stromal keratocytes. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 was immunolocalized to the epithelium in normal and wounded corneas. Intense TIMP-2 labeling of the basement membrane zone was noted 3 days after wounding.

CONCLUSIONS

Unlike gelatinase A, gelatinase B is expressed exclusively by migrating basal epithelial cells after wounding. The matrix metalloproteinase-tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (MMP)/TIMP systems may play an important role in the early stages of corneal wound healing after excimer laser keratectomy.

Applications of microdiffraction related to HREM

This paper deals with the coherent and the incoherent microdiffraction, as well as their applications, for example, determination of the nature of defects and boundaries, measurement of the strain field and identification of the symmetry, etc. The localized structure information obtained from microdiffraction has been compared with and complements that provided by HREM.

Microstructure investigations of ball milled materials

HREM and FEG TEM were emphasized and extensively used to follow the most subtle changes in the structure and composition of ball-milled Cu, Fe-Cu, and thermally decomposed Fe60Cu40. Some significant results are obtained and summarized as follows: HREM shows that the deformation of ball-milled copper proceeds mainly by twinning and shear bands (SBs) formation. The nano-grains formed during ball milling (BM) contain a high density of dislocations. The grain boundaries (GBs) of nanocrystalline (NC) Cu prepared by BM are ordered, curved, and strained, but disordering, lattice distortion, and nanovoids in local regions were frequently observed. Nanoscale composition analysis on mechanically alloyed Fe16Cu84 shows that the average Fe content in both the interior of grains and the GBs is close to the designed composition, which proves that a supersaturated solid solution has really formed. However, the Fe content is rather inhomogeneous between the larger and smaller grains, which infers the inhomogeneous mixing of Fe and Cu during mechanical alloying (MA). NC structure and the mechanical force-enhanced fast diffusion are the reasons of the formation of supersaturated solid solutions in immiscible systems with positive enthalpy of mixing. HREM observations carried out with the thermally decomposed Fe60Cu40 solid solution show that the Nishiyama (N-W) or Kurdyumov-Sachs (K-S) orientation relationships exist between alpha-Fe and Cu. Energy dispersive X-ray spectra (EDXS) results show that the Cu content in these alpha-Fe grains reaches as high as 9.5 at.% even after heating to 1,400 degrees C, which is even higher than the maximum solubility of Cu in gamma-Fe at 1,094 degrees C.

Image segmentation and bright contrast spot localization of the high resolution atomic image

Some basic quantitative analysis techniques of digitized high resolution atomic image are developed in this paper. We describe how to divide the atomic image into small independent areas with special structure information by the valley mesh segmentation method. The procedure is with regard to the bright contrast spot segmentation of atomic images. We suggest several ways for bright contrast spot localization in images. Calculation routines for peak detection and weighted local position average methods for this purpose are given.

The defects and intergrowth of lead oxides revealed by HRTEM

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron diffraction were used to investigate the microstructure of natural lead oxides found in Panzhihua Mountain, China. The electron diffraction patterns showed crossing of diffraction spots along 〈110〉 directions in litharge and along 〈100〉 directions in massicot and the structural images showed the domain-like texture, probably constructed by arrays of planar defects in the fundamental structures. Based upon the structure of these oxides the possible structural models of planar defects are discussed and the orientation relationship of litharge and massicot is determined.

A HREM study of nonbasal twinning and superlattices in ilmenite

The microstructures of natural ilmenite found in Panzhihua district, China, were examined by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The [{\bar 1}2{\bar 1}0] structural images showed clearly the (10{\bar 1}1) nonbasal twinning which seems to be coincident with the [{\bar 1}012] rotation twinning. The superlattices with periodicities of 16.8 and 12.6 Å, respectively, as well as the unit-cell twinning related to the ordering of (10{\bar 1}1) multiple twinnings were observed. The superlattice resulting from the ordering arrangement of (10{\bar 1}1) stacking faults related to the slip systems suggested by Heuer [Philos, Mag. (1966), 13, 379–893] were also detected. Possible genetic aspects are considered.

High-resolution electron microscopic investigation of supported platinum particles reduced at high temperatures

High-resolution electron microscopy has been used to characterize the platinum particles supported on TiO2 or ZnO. After reduction at elevated temperatures, the metallic particles display a regular, faceted shape, and several superstructures, Pt3 Ti(C), Pt3 Ti(H), PtTi, and PtZn, have been found. These results, which may involve strong metal-support interaction, have been confirmed by optical diffraction and image simulation.