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缅因州BIDDEFORD

Winners of UNE's first Student Confocal Microscope Digital Image Competition announced

The microscopic world can reveal a bottomless spectacle on common models of study, 包括果蝇和神经元. 6月25日, the University of New England Microscope Core Facility (MCF) held the First Annual Student Confocal Microscope Digital Image Competition. The aim of the competition was to make UNE’s confocal scanning laser microscope more accessible to all students.

The competition was broken down into two categories; altered and unaltered images. 学生 who entered images into the unaltered category were barred from changing their images in any way after collecting the image using the Leica software. This category was aimed towards science students.

学生 who submitted altered images were allowed to adjust brightness, enhance color and add personal touches to their images. 凡妮莎·奥唐纳, 比赛协调人, said the altered category was created to encourage students from all disciplines to participate, 包括艺术系学生.

The confocal uses lasers as a light source, which is scanned over a sample containing fluorescent labels. Only the "confocal" fluorescent signal collected by the microscope optics and passed through an adjustable pinhole aperture is used to create an image. Off-axis and out-of-focus signals are blocked, enabling collection of thin optical sections that can be combined to generate high-resolution 3D images.  研究ers may use multiple dyes within a sample to analyze cellular relationships.  MCF’s confocal system can scan at video rate to allow for live cell analysis. The confocal was purchased with a NSF Grant #1125672.

This year, the winners of the unaltered category included:

  • 第一名:尼尔·麦库姆,  2016 Molecular and Biomedical 科学s Ph.D. 程序, 缅因大学, in Professor Ian Meng's Lab in the UNE Department of Biomedical 科学s.
  • Second Place: Taylor Follansbee '15 , 生物科学硕士, '13, 医学生物学学士, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the UNE Department of Biology.
  •  并列第三名:15岁的伊恩·伊姆伯特, 公共卫生硕士, '12, 生物化学学士, in Assistant Professor Tamara King's Lab in the UNE Department of Biomedical 科学s; and Jessica Davis-Knowlton '13, 生物科学硕士, in Geoff Ganter's Lab in the UNE Department of Biology.

The winners of the altered category included:

  • First Place: Taylor Follansbee '15, 生物科学硕士, 医学生物学学士学位, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the UNE Department of Biology.
  • Second Place: Jessica Davis-Knowlton '13, 生物科学硕士, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the UNE Department of Biology.
  • 第三名:Tabea Moll，  visiting student from Associate Professor Kerry Tucker's lab in UNE Department of Biomedical 科学s.

The first place winner from each category will be published in 涨潮, UNE’s research magazine and all the winners from each category (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) will be published in DUNE: DigitalUNE, UNE的在线存储库. 

In addition there will be available to purchase a 2014-2015 academic calendar sold in the bookstore, comprised of the confocal images from this years competition.

The 2014 judging panel consisted of: Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., (vice president for research and scholarship), James Vesenka, Ph.D., (Microscope Core Facility director), Stephen Burt (chair and associate professor of art), 安妮·莱斯利(涨潮 project coordinator), and Bethany Kenyon (DUNE repository administrator).

All the entries will be featured in the Campus Center on UNE’s Biddeford Campus beginning September 1st.

MCF will be seeking entries for the 2015 contest and exhibition this coming winter. During this period MCF will offer training workshops for new users. More information about the 2015 competition and workshop sign up will be available at the MCF website starting Jan 15, 2015. 学生 from all departments and experience levels are encouraged to participate.

For more information, contact 凡妮莎·奥唐纳 (207) 602-2854 or vmaples@85500171.com.