Nov. 04, 2009

Catching Enzymes in the Act

Proteins that copy and edit DNA help protect cells from attack by removing viral DNA insertions. They are thought to reach their target sequence by "sliding", "hopping" and "jumping" along DNA strands. Observing this behavior has proved hard, however, due to its speed of action. We discuss a recent research project that used a high-speed camera to observe - for the first time - the sliding and jumping of EcoRV, a restriction enzyme, along DNA molecules.
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Towards High-density Non-volatile Solid State Memories

We want the electronic gadgets of tomorrow to be smaller and lighter, but also faster and more powerful: Whether MP3 players, camera mobile phones, navigation systems or notebooks, all have to be compact but also able to store increasingly large amounts of music, images, films or maps, and process them quickly. moreNov. 04, 2009

Developing MALDI Imaging Technology for Cancer Profile

Normal and diseased tissues are complex mixtures of different cell populations. A better understanding of protein expression changes that occur during 
diseases needs sensitive and specific technologies for each of these cell types. Mass spectrometry based tissue imaging (MALDI-MSI) is a newly developed technique, allowing the visualization of proteins, peptides, lipids and small molecules directly on thin sections cut from fresh frozen or fixed paraffin embedded tissues. moreNov. 04, 2009

Clinical Electron Microscopy

The high resolution and sensitivity of electron microscopy is a valuable ancillary tool or gold standard in pathological diagnosis. The conventional sample turnaround time for processing in the lab can be significantly reduced from days to hours by the microwave technology. Microwave-assisted tissue processing, in combination with digital image acquisition, enables a "same-day" diagnosis in urgent clinical cases. Ultrastructural telepathology allows instant and live second opinion retrieval from a remote expert worldwide.

Introduction
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Quantitative Evaluation of Histomorphometry

We use the intense light coming from a third generation synchrotron source to perform computed tomography (CT) with micro-resolution and high material contrast. This unique tool allows for shedding light on methodical errors which are involved when applying classical histomorphometry. The tomographic approach using X-rays is not only non-destructive, it also allows for an analysis in a true 3D manner. Thus, it delivers knowledge of which is important to fully understand e. g. bone regeneration.

Introduction
moreNov. 03, 2009

Microscopes for ­Interdisciplinary Research

For more than 30 years - on a worldwide basis - the Ergonom technology by Kurt Olbrich has been in use successfully among insiders. They see it as an excellently qualified light-microscope for most complicated tasks. At present, these special microscopes are being offered to a larger group of top microscopists.
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Confocal Microscopy

"We are now able to take a series of photographs at slightly different focal planes or levels through a single cell or group of cells. These photographs ­result in a consecutive record of the internal architecture of the cell or cells. This accomplishment we have called "optical sectioning". ... By means of this new development a transparent specimen such as a group of cells may be sectioned optically. ... Detail above or below the focal plane does not ­interfere." [1] moreNov. 03, 2009

Tomographic Phase Microscopy

In visualizing transparent biological cells and tissues, the phase contrast microscope and its related techniques have been a cornerstone of nearly every cell biology laboratory. However, phase contrast methods are inherently qualitative and lack in 3-D imaging capability. We introduce a novel tomographic microscopy for quantitative three-dimensional mapping of refractive index in live cells and tissues using a phase-shifting laser interferometric microscope with variable illumination angle.
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