scholarly journals A Simple Model to Quantify Radiolytic Production following Electron Emission from Heavy-Atom Nanoparticles Irradiated in Liquid Suspensions

2015 ◽  
Vol 184 (5) ◽  
pp. 518-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Wardlow ◽  
Chris Polin ◽  
Balder Villagomez-Bernabe ◽  
Fred Currell
Author(s):  
R. D. Heidenreich

This program has been organized by the EMSA to commensurate the 50th anniversary of the experimental verification of the wave nature of the electron. Davisson and Germer in the U.S. and Thomson and Reid in Britian accomplished this at about the same time. Their findings were published in Nature in 1927 by mutual agreement since their independent efforts had led to the same conclusion at about the same time. In 1937 Davisson and Thomson shared the Nobel Prize in physics for demonstrating the wave nature of the electron deduced in 1924 by Louis de Broglie.The Davisson experiments (1921-1927) were concerned with the angular distribution of secondary electron emission from nickel surfaces produced by 150 volt primary electrons. The motivation was the effect of secondary emission on the characteristics of vacuum tubes but significant deviations from the results expected for a corpuscular electron led to a diffraction interpretation suggested by Elasser in 1925.


Author(s):  
William F. Tivol ◽  
Murray Vernon King ◽  
D. F. Parsons

Feasibility of isomorphous substitution in electron diffraction is supported by a calculation of the mean alteration of the electron-diffraction structure factors for hemoglobin crystals caused by substituting two mercury atoms per molecule, following Green, Ingram & Perutz, but with allowance for the proportionality of f to Z3/4 for electron diffraction. This yields a mean net change in F of 12.5%, as contrasted with 22.8% for x-ray diffraction.Use of the hydration chamber in electron diffraction opens prospects for examining many proteins that yield only very thin crystals not suitable for x-ray diffraction. Examination in the wet state avoids treatments that could cause translocation of the heavy-atom labels or distortion of the crystal. Combined with low-fluence techniques, it enables study of the protein in a state as close to native as possible.We have undertaken a study of crystals of rat hemoglobin by electron diffraction in the wet state. Rat hemoglobin offers a certain advantage for hydration-chamber work over other hemoglobins in that it can be crystallized from distilled water instead of salt solutions.


Author(s):  
T. Koshikawa ◽  
Y. Fujii ◽  
E. Sugata ◽  
F. Kanematsu

The Cu-Be alloys are widely used as the electron multiplier dynodes after the adequate activation process. But the structures and compositions of the elements on the activated surfaces were not studied clearly. The Cu-Be alloys are heated in the oxygen atmosphere in the usual activation techniques. The activation conditions, e.g. temperature and O2 pressure, affect strongly the secondary electron yield and life time of dynodes.In the present paper, the activated Cu-Be dynode surfaces at each condition are investigated with Scanning Auger Microanalyzer (SAM) (primary beam diameter: 3μmϕ) and SEM. The commercial Cu-Be(2%) alloys were polished with Cr2O3 powder, rinsed in the distilled water and set in the vacuum furnance.Two typical activation condition, i.e. activation temperature 730°C and 810°C in 5x10-3 Torr O2 pressure were chosen since the formation mechanism of the BeO film on the Cu-Be alloys was guessed to be very different at each temperature from the results of the secondary electron emission measurements.


Author(s):  
E. F. Lindsey ◽  
C. W. Price ◽  
E. L. Pierce ◽  
E. J. Hsieh

Columnar structures produced by DC magnetron sputtering can be altered by using RF biased sputtering or by exposing the film to nitrogen pulses during sputtering, and these techniques are being evaluated to refine the grain structure in sputtered beryllium films deposited on fused silica substrates. Beryllium is brittle, and fractures in sputtered beryllium films tend to be intergranular; therefore, a convenient technique to analyze grain structure in these films is to fracture the coated specimens and examine them in an SEM. However, fine structure in sputtered deposits is difficult to image in an SEM, and both the low density and the low secondary electron emission coefficient of beryllium seriously compound this problem. Secondary electron emission can be improved by coating beryllium with Au or Au-Pd, and coating also was required to overcome severe charging of the fused silica substrate even at low voltage. The coating structure can obliterate much of the fine structure in beryllium films, but reasonable results were obtained by using the high-resolution capability of an Hitachi S-800 SEM and either ion-beam coating with Au-Pd or carbon coating by thermal evaporation.


Author(s):  
J. P. Langmore ◽  
N. R. Cozzarelli ◽  
A. V. Crewe

A system has been developed to allow highly specific derivatization of the thymine bases of DNA with mercurial compounds wich should be visible in the high resolution scanning electron microscope. Three problems must be completely solved before this staining system will be useful for base sequencing by electron microscopy: 1) the staining must be shown to be highly specific for one base, 2) the stained DNA must remain intact in a high vacuum on a thin support film suitable for microscopy, 3) the arrangement of heavy atoms on the DNA must be determined by the elastic scattering of electrons in the microscope without loss or large movement of heavy atoms.


Author(s):  
Michael F. Smith ◽  
John P. Langmore

The purpose of image reconstruction is to determine the mass densities within molecules by analysis of the intensities within images. Cryo-EM offers this possibility by virtue of the excellent preservation of internal structure without heavy atom staining. Cryo-EM images, however, have low contrast because of the similarity between the density of biological material and the density of vitreous ice. The images also contain a high background of inelastic scattering. To overcome the low signal and high background, cryo-images are typically recorded 1-3 μm underfocus to maximize phase contrast. Under those conditions the image intensities bear little resemblance to the object, due to the dependence of the contrast transfer function (CTF) upon spatial frequency. Compensation (i.e., correction) for the CTF is theoretically possible, but implementation has been rare. Despite numerous studies of molecules in ice, there has never been a quantitative evaluation of compensated images of biological molecules of known structure.


Author(s):  
P. Xu ◽  
E. J. Kirkland ◽  
J. Silcox

Many studies of thin metal film growth and the formation of metal-semiconductor contacts have been performed using a wide range of experimental methods. STEM annular dark field imaging could be an important complement since it may allow direct imaging of a single heavy atom on a thin silicon substrate. This would enable studies of the local atomic arrangements and defects in the initial stage of metal silicide formation.Preliminary experiments were performed in an ultra-high vacuum VG HB501A STEM with a base pressure of 1 × 10-10 mbar. An antechamber directly attached to the microscope for specimen preparation has a base pressure of 2×l0-10 mbar. A thin single crystal membrane was fabricated by anodic etching and subsequent reactive etching. The specimen was cleaned by the Shiraki method and had a very thin oxide layer left on the surface. 5 Å of gold was deposited on the specimen at room temperature from a tungsten filament coil monitored by a quartz crystal monitor.


Author(s):  
D. P. Bazett-Jones ◽  
M. J. Hendzel

Structural analysis of combinations of nucleosomes and transcription factors on promoter and enhancer elements is necessary in order to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for the regulation of transcription initiation. Such complexes are often not amenable to study by high resolution crystallographic techniques. We have been applying electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) to specific problems in molecular biology related to transcription regulation. There are several advantages that this technique offers in studies of nucleoprotein complexes. First, an intermediate level of spatial resolution can be achieved because heavy atom contrast agents are not necessary. Second, mass and stoichiometric relationships of protein and nucleic acid can be estimated by phosphorus detection, an element in much higher proportions in nucleic acid than protein. Third, wrapping or bending of the DNA by the protein constituents can be observed by phosphorus mapping of the complexes. Even when ESI is used with high exposure of electrons to the specimen, important macromolecular information may be provided. For example, an image of the TATA binding protein (TBP) bound to DNA is shown in the Figure (top panel). It can be seen that the protein distorts the DNA away from itself and much of its mass sits off the DNA helix axis. Moreover, phosphorus and mass estimates demonstrate whether one or two TBP molecules interact with this particular promoter TATA sequence.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Medvinsky ◽  
Alexey Rusakov
Keyword(s):  

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