Funds are requested for the acquisition of a modern, digital, transmission electron microscope to be installed within the Division of Core Research Laboratories at Rhode Island Hospital (the state's largest Brown University-affiliated teaching hospital and trauma center). The Morgani Model Transmission Electron Microscope will significantly benefit the research and teaching endeavors of the twelve NIH-Funded investigators whose projects are detailed in this submission and that of Brown University campus-based investigators, as well the work of hospital-based faculty that are based at the five other Brown-affiliated hospitals which collectively comprise the Brown University School Of Medicine. We currently have a decrepit 32 year old Philips 300 transmission electron microscope. Several Major components (e.g., the high voltage supply, the mercury diffusion vacuum pump, the camera transport mechanism, and at least two lens supply modules {aka K units}) are functionally unreliable and frank failure of these and/or other elements appears imminent. We have carefully considered the technical capabilities and costs of current transmission electron microscopes. Instruments at the """"""""low"""""""" end of their price ranges are adequate for our uses, give excellent resolution (equal to or very near high-end models) and considerable flexibility, and are well suited to the research projects in this proposal, as well as likely future projects. The Philips (FEI) model Morgani 268 is a 100 kV microscope with a conventional motorized stage with a 6 degree tilt & high-resolution digital camera system. The microscope is fully digitized, controlled by an upgradable PC that is also used for digital image capture. This is a recently introduced model in the Philips line, and is the most modern of those considered. It offers exceptional value; is designed for the """"""""cell biology, pathology, ultrastructural molecular biology"""""""" category of users; and is well suited to our needs. Unlike models that are in the middle or near the end of their product runs, this unit is at the beginning of its production period. Consequently, the microscope will be supported by the manufacturer with service and parts further into the future than the others, giving it a longer useful life span. Therefore, due to capability, versatility, needs appropriateness, upgradability, and overall value, we have specified the Philips Morgani 268 in this funding request.
| McCullough, Christopher; Pullela, Phani Kumar; Im, Sang-Choul et al. (2013) The synthesis, characterization, and application of ¹³C-methyl isocyanide as an NMR probe of heme protein active sites. Methods Mol Biol 987:51-9 |
