The Microscope - Volume 67, Third Quarter 2019

IN THIS ISSUE:

On the cover
Harking back to past photomontage covers of The Microscope journal, here are some of the participants from Inter/Micro 2019; see article on page 122.

Top row, from left: Jim Millette, Tony Havics, Brian J. Ford, Susan Young, John A. Reffner, Skip Palenik

2nd row: Kelly Brinsko Beckert, James Solliday, Jack Hietpas, Walter Rantanen, Rich Brown, Peter Diaczuk

3rd row: Payam Fallah, Art Struss, Katie White, Bob Kuksuk, Peter Zoon, Eric Chatfield

4th row: Jan Burmeister, Patrick Buzzini, Wayne Isphording, Brendan Nytes, Anders Juul Lawaetz, Meggan King

5th row: Steven Barnett, Charles Mazel, Dickey Huntamer, Casey Brown, Sebastian Sparenga, Jerry Jasso

(Photos by Dean Golemis/McCrone Research Institute)

Editorial | Happy 60th Anniversary!

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 67 (3), p ii, 2019
Excerpt: The McCrone Research Institute is turning 60, and being that 1960 was our first year, this will be a momentous occasion. I was born at a very young age, but I still missed the beginning when Walter and Lucy McCrone envisioned a world in which an abundance of well-trained microscopists would emerge and reveal an array of hidden truths from their lenses.

Microscopical Analyses of Asbestos-Containing Dental Tape

James R. Millette, Steven Compton, and Christopher DePasquale
The Microscope 67 (3), pp 99 – 109, 2019
Abstract: Since the 1930s, asbestos-containing dental ring liner tape has been used in making crowns, bridges, and other metal prostheses. Analyses of 10 samples of the tape in this study show a range of 40% to 95% chrysotile together with small amounts of amphibole asbestos. Fibers are released onto a person handling the tape. Several tests performed in both a glove box and in a room-sized chamber showed similar airborne levels of asbestos ranging from 0.5 to 4 fibers per cubic centimeter (F/cc) during handling and tearing of the tape. Two glove box tests suggest that more than 100,000 asbestos fibers greater than 5 µm in length are released during two tears of the dental tape and over two million asbestos fibers greater than 0.5 µm in length are released during two tears.

Critical Focus | Vaccines: Sickness or Salvation?

Brian J. Ford
The Microscope 67 (3), pp 111 – 121, 2019
Excerpt: For generations, vaccination was part of childhood. Today, it has become controversial, and doubting parents are foregoing inoculations at the risk of exposing their children to disease.

Inter/Micro 2019 — International Microscopy Conference

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 67 (3), pp 122 – 139, 2019
Abstract: The 71st annual Inter/Micro international microscopy conference, held at McCrone Research Institute in Chicago on June 10-14, hosted leading microscopists and researchers from around the world, including Canada, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and U.S.

The Microscope Past: 35 Years Ago | Applications of Light Microscopy in Food Analysis

Olga Flint
The Microscope 67 (3), pp 140 – 143, 2019
Originally published in The Microscope, Vol. 32, Third Quarter, pp 133 – 140, 1984.
Abstract: In the chemical analysis of food, evidence concerning the physical state of constituents is destroyed. By using non-destructive techniques the food microscopist can provide this information but, to do this, methods appropriate for the material being examined must be chosen. Techniques involving minimum disruption of food structure include methods of optical contrast, vapor staining and the use of a stain-mountant. That processed foods are susceptible to artifacts is illustrated by a comparison of the results obtained by solution and vapor staining of starch and lipid present in a commercial food emulsion. The use of a toluidine blue stain-mountant provides a rapid method for detecting plant tissue in this and similar food products.

Afterimage | Astra

Charles Mazel — NIGHTSEA
The Microscope 67 (3), p 144, 2019
Detail of a horizontal section of an apple; fluorescence under blue light excitation, field of view is ~7 × 7 mm. Best overall winner of the Inter/Micro 2019 Photomicrography Competition.