Microscopy Research and Technique最新文献

The rapid advancements in smartphone camera features and accessibility have garnered significant attention for smartphone-based imaging systems in recent years. However, due to variations in dimensions and camera positions across different phones, they often suffer from compatibility issues. In the present work, these issues have been addressed by using a Raspberry Pi single-board computer (SBC) as the platform for the development of a multimodal microscopic system. The proposed imaging system can be remotely accessed and controlled via Wi-Fi from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, thus offering greater flexibility compared to smartphone-based imaging systems. The system offers four imaging modalities: bright-field (BF), dark-field (DF), oblique illumination (OI), and differential phase contrast (DPC), all on a single platform without requiring any additional optical components. Developed at an affordable cost of ~$122 using 3D printing and readily available components, the system achieves a noteworthy optical resolution of 1.64 μm, comparable to a laboratory microscope with a ×10 objective. Its imaging capabilities have been validated against a research-grade microscope, demonstrating its potential as a reliable and cost-effective tool for sectors in need of accessible microscopy solutions.

In this study, commercial, plant-based, and paper-based cellulose acetate (CCA) was modified to develop an efficient adsorbent for removing metaldehyde (MD) from aqueous solutions. The modified commercial CCA exhibited the best performance and was selected for further characterization using FTIR, EDX, SEM, and XRD. Batch experiments were conducted to assess the effects of parameters such as contact time (10–100 min), initial MD concentration (10–100 mg/L), adsorbent dosage (0.01–0.12 g), and pH (2–12). Kinetic, isotherm, and thermodynamic analyses were carried out to gain a deeper understanding of the adsorption process. The maximum MD removal observed was 55.34% at an optimal dosage of 0.08 g and room temperature (25°C). The experimental data were best fitted by the pseudo-second-order and power function models, with correlation coefficients of 0.9947 and 0.9917, respectively. Among the isotherm models tested, including Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Jovanovich, and Harkins-Jura, the Freundlich model provided the best fit for equilibrium data (R² = 0.995), indicating that the adsorption occurred in a heterogeneous environment. The maximum adsorption capacity was 2.21 mg/g. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the adsorption process was exothermic and spontaneous, with an enthalpy change (ΔH°) of −29.9 kJ/mol, entropy change (ΔS°) of 91.29 J/mol, and Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) values of −7.27, −4.45, and −2.65 kJ/mol at 298, 313, and 328 K, respectively. These findings suggest that CCA could be a promising alternative to activated carbon for adsorbent applications, providing a more energy-efficient solution. Further studies are necessary using other pollutants.

“Avian species differ in their environments and lifestyles, including domestic, marine, wild, and carnivorous types. Each bird's unique diet influences the kidney to carry out distinct and specialized functions. This study aims to explore and compare the anatomical, histological, and histochemical features of the kidneys in aquatic birds with varying feeding behaviors: the Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) and Green-winged Teal ( Anas crecca ) from the Anatidae family, and the Pied Kingfisher ( Ceryle rudis ) from the Alcedinidae family. The kidneys were dissected from the synsacral fossa and fixed in 10% neutral buffer formalin. Tissue samples were processed using the paraffin-embedding technique and stained with H&E, Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), Alcian blue (AB), AB/PAS, and mercury bromophenol blue. Histological examination revealed no significant structural differences in the kidneys among the studied species. A thin basement membrane supported the endothelial cells of the glomerular capillary tufts. The lining epithelial cells of all segments of the nephrons and the brush border of the proximal convoluted tubule showed a negative reaction with Alcian blue stain. Whereas they exhibited a positive reaction with PAS stain. The distal convoluted tubules and the luminal surfaces of the collecting ducts showed a strong positive reaction with Alcian blue when combined with PAS. The proximal convoluted tubules showed a positive reaction with the mercury bromophenol blue stain, indicating the formation of albumin spheres. Histological and histochemical studies of the renal tissue across the three studied species revealed several interspecies similarities and some intra-species variations with other avian species.

Galling organisms induce redifferentiation of plant tissues to provide shelter, nutrition, and protection for gallicolous organisms. For the first time, the present work describes morphological, anatomical, and histochemical characteristics of two aphid galls of Pistacia vera during development. Intact (control) mesophyll was homogenous, composed of palisade cells; epidermal layers were uniseriate, and vascular bundles, surrounded by bundle sheath, were apposite collateral in the midvein and single in lateral sides. The identified galls were the crescent-shaped at leaflet edges and small pea-shaped at leaflet midvein apex. In both galls, the adaxial epidermis was the origin of the epidermis inside the gall, and the abaxial epidermis was the origin of the epidermis outside the gall. Pea-shaped galls showed both opposite and single vascular bundles, whereas crescent-shaped galls had only single bundles. They showed the following features compared with control: multilayer epidermis-lumen (a kind of hyperplasia), increasing total cell layers of gall wall, replacement of palisade cells with shorter cells, increasing the size of phloem system and schizogenous ducts (a kind of hypertrophy, only in crescent-shaped gall), xylem low stainability, and the absence of bundle sheath. Some primary and secondary metabolites were present in both types of galls as well as non-galled leaflets. All the mentioned features are developed to feed aphids or protect them against biotic and abiotic stresses.

Chromosomes, which carry vital genetic material, have a distinctive thread-like appearance located within the cell nucleus. The process of examining these structures known as karyotyping is fundamental for identifying genetic abnormalities. Although several techniques have been developed for this purpose, many existing methods are limited by inefficiencies, particularly in terms of processing time and accurate feature extraction. To overcome these issues, this study introduces a novel algorithm called Visual Geometric Transformer-based Mantis Search (VGT-MS) for effective detection of chromosomal anomalies. Given that chromosome images often include irrelevant background elements, a preprocessing step is applied to eliminate these artifacts. Feature extraction is performed using the VGG-16 network, followed by classification using the Vision Transformer to pinpoint abnormalities. To further enhance the model's effectiveness, its parameters are optimized using the Mantis Search Algorithm. The performance of the proposed framework is assessed using evaluation metrics including accuracy, F1-score, recall, precision, and ROC. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model excels in all key metrics, achieving an accuracy of 98.0%, precision of 97.2%, recall of 96.2%, and an F1-score of 96.7%, all while reducing computational overhead. Overall, the VGT-MS framework proves to be a powerful and efficient solution for chromosome abnormality detection, successfully addressing the drawbacks of conventional methods.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is essential for studying the surface properties of samples at the micro- and nanoscales. Traditional AFM scanning methods are time-consuming, particularly for obtaining high-resolution images. Compressive sensing (CS) has been utilized for fast AFM imaging. However, as the size and resolution requirements of the images increase, the measurement matrix for compressive sensing also becomes larger. Block compressive sensing (BCS) divides the image into blocks and reconstructs them with a small measurement matrix, but it is difficult to balance the imaging quality between regions. Therefore, we propose an innovative adaptive CS-AFM imaging scheme. A low-resolution image is obtained through fast scanning, and a high-resolution image is generated using bicubic interpolation. The Otsu and eight-connectivity methods detect the location of the target blocks, while the GRNN model adapts the sampling rate for it. A supplementary scan is performed on the target block, followed by reconstruction using the TVAL3 algorithm. Finally, the target region is replaced with the reconstructed high-quality target blocks. Compared to other schemes, the results demonstrate that our method excels in achieving fast, high-quality, and high-resolution imaging.

Biodiesel synthesis by utilizing nonedible species of oil-bearing seeds is a viable, eco-friendly, and pragmatic approach to combating fossil fuel shortages and environmental pollution. Therefore, in the present research work, hemp oil was extracted in good yield (29.9%) utilizing industrial hemp ( Cannabis sativa L.) seeds cultivated in a greenhouse at PCSIR-Lahore, Pakistan, using hydroponic technology (Crop 2022). For maximum biodiesel production, a ternary metal (MgO-ZnO-BaO NPs) nanocatalyst was designed and thoroughly characterized by PXRD, SEM, EDX, and FTIR analysis. Afterward, the nanocatalyst-assisted transesterification of hemp oil was carried out. The transesterification reaction of hemp oil was optimized by response surface methodology based on central composite design (CCD-RSM). A quadratic polynomial equation was employed to predict the optimal yields, while analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified the statistically significant factors influencing the process. The maximum yield of biodiesel (92%) was obtained by adjusting the methanol to hemp oil molar ratio (6:1), temperature at 65°C, MgO-ZnO-BaO NPs dosage of 2.5 g, and a reaction time of 3 h with a constant stirring rate of 750 rpm. The hemp-oil-based biodiesel was characterized by FTIR and GC-MS analysis. Fuel characteristics of biodiesel were determined according to ASTM D 6751, which were comparable to literature and ASTM standards. The findings of this comprehensive study proved the credibility of hemp seed oil as a feasible nonfood, nonconventional feedstock for producing high-quality biodiesel.

Pollen morphology of 20 populations representing 13 Iranian Crocus species was analyzed using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate their taxonomic significance. Pollen materials were extracted from fresh plants or herbarium samples. For LM analysis, pollen grains were acetolyzed, while intact pollen grains were used for SEM micrographs. The study examined various pollen traits, including polar and equatorial diameters, aperture and meso-aperture widths, exine thickness, and P/E ratios. In addition, SEM observations examined spinule width and length, along with the density of spinules and perforations on the exine. The investigation revealed that pollen grains of Crocus are monads, spheroidal in shape, and measure approximately 61–106.48 μm along their equatorial axis. The smallest pollen grains were observed in C. reinhardii, while the largest were found in C. archibaldiorum. The pollen grains were intectate, with the exine irregularly perforated and covered with microechinate ornamentation. Two distinct types of pollen apertures were identified in the studied species: polyaperturoidate apertures in the two populations of Crocus haussknechtii from sect.Crocus and spiraaperturate pollen in the remaining taxa belonging to sect. Nudiscapus. Our data suggest that pollen characteristics offer valuable synapomorphies for delimiting sections within the genus Crocus, and also provide significant support for understanding and clarifying relationships within taxonomic aggregates and complexes.