Evo 50 xvp scanning electron microscope

A GE Phoenix X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) system, equipped with a flat Dynamic 41|100 digital detector, was used to perform the μ-CT scans of the specimens to examine the morphological features of their meso-structure. The detector offered a 410 × 410 mm² detection area and a 100 μm pixel side size. The entire gauge lengths of two N090, two N45, one W090, one W45, one RP, and one HC were analyzed before testing. The volume reconstructions were carried out with VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 [30 ] software by Volume Graphics. The scanning parameters used for each specimen type are reported in Table 1, along with the number of consecutive volumes acquired to frame their entire gauge length.
The fracture surfaces of two tensile specimens per type were observed on a Zeiss EVO 50XVP Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). A thin gold layer was sputtered on the observed surfaces prior to scanning to enhance the quality of the images due to the low electrical conductivity of the polyamide 6.

Coverslips of RF/6A cells were incubated with OmpA coated or control beads as described above. The coverslips were fixed in 2.0% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate for 1 h at room temperature. The coverslips were subjected to two 10-min washes in 0.1 M sodium cadodylate and fixed in 1.0% osmium tetroxide in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate for 1 h. The coverslips were rinsed two more times with 0.1 M sodium cadodylate buffer for 10 min each. The samples were dehydrated by successive 5-min incubations in 50% ethanol, 70% ethanol, 80% ethanol, 95% ethanol, and three 10-min washes in 10% ethanol. Next, the samples were incubated three times for 30 min each in hexamethyldisilazane, air-dried, mounted with silver paint, and sputter coated with gold before imaging on a Zeiss EVO 50XVP scanning electron microscope (Thornwood, NY). For HL-60 cells incubated in suspension with beads, the samples were retained on a 0.1 μm filter and processed exactly as described for RF/6A cells.

Overnight cultures of ΔSSA_0351 and S. sanguinis SK36 were diluted 1 : 100 in BHI and grown to late log phase. Bacterial samples were deposited onto a 0.1 µm disposable Millipore filter to remove medium. Samples were fixed using 2 % glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer (pH 7.4) for 30 min, followed by 1 % osmium tetroxide in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer (pH 7.4). The samples embedded in the filters were then dehydrated in ethanol followed by PBS and allowed to air dry. The filters were sectioned and mounted onto stubs and coated with gold for 3 min (EMS– 550 Automated Sputter Coater, Electron Microscopy Sciences, Hatfield, PA, USA). Micrographs were taken at 10 000 and 20 000× total magnification using a Zeiss EVO 50 XVP scanning electron microscope (Carl Zeiss, Peabody, MA, USA).