Partnerships between public institutions and private industry have become a hallmark of dynamic scientific advancement, particularly in the translational space. As explicitly translational paradigms like precision medicine have advanced, the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of the University of Southern California and Olympus formed a partnership to address some of the key scientific, technological, and computational challenges associated with evolving needs in cancer medicine. This article highlights some of the specific microscopy innovation and scientific challenges addressed by the partnership.

This article reviews the use of portable microscopes in published science from Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's letters to the Royal Society to a recent paper on the phylogeny of the phorid fly by Hartop et al. [1]. The portability of a pocket microscope is a clear benefit, yet bulky compound microscopes remain the mainstay of field research and diagnosis. There is a growing interest in the impact of climate change, which drives researchers to investigate the smallest, most fragile life in remote places such as Antarctica, Mount Everest, and the Amazon Rainforest. Are pocket microscopes ready to produce publication-standard images?

Peripheral nerves in vertebrate systems have been studied for centuries. Nerve anatomy, including the connective tissues that cushion nerves, are well described in the literature. The outer connective tissues, known as the epineurium and perineurium, include a double layer of collagen fibers that form a double helical wrapping that is visible with polarized light microscopy and by other contrast methods. This wrapping is a diagnostic characteristic of nerve tissues. Decades of research into dinosaur bones have produced interesting endocasts of probable brain morphology, but no soft and flexible nerve tissues have been reported from dinosaur remains. In this study we provide evidence of nerve fragments, characterized by a double helical wrapping of collagen fibers, from a Triceratops condyle collected at the Hell Creek Formation, MT. Based on comparison with nerves from an avian model we conclude that these are fragments of nerves that once resided in vivo in Triceratops.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada is focused on reconstructing the communities that existed at the end of the Cretaceous. This challenge is made more difficult because for many of the taxa present, few complete specimens are preserved. In most smaller animals, all that remains preserved are isolated elements such as jaws. Teleost fish are of particular interest because they are dominant in today's aquatic communities. They are thought to have diversified after the Cretacious-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event, but many questions about early freshwater members of this group remain. Even the number of species present remains a mystery. Through an ambitious SR-μCT study we are non-destructively digitally dissecting both isolated elements and articulated skeletons that remain embedded in their rock matrix. Through comparison studies we are identifying features to aid in their identification while preserving the original fossils in an unaltered state for future studies.

Understanding of a disease and its treatment relies heavily on visualizing cells, tissues, and organs, making micro- and macro-imaging modalities integral to the biomedical community. Macro imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound are still the mainstay of whole-body imaging because of their non-invasive nature and live image feed. However, they fail to deliver cellular details required to understand a disease or effectiveness of a treatment. On the opposite end of the spectrum, benchtop microscopes and histology can deliver excellent cellular resolution, allowing one to visualize cellular and intracellular interactions to better understand a disease, its progression and/or the outcome of therapies. However, to look at the cells, the tissue needs to be resected, fixed, processed, and stained before imaging. This whole process of visual confirmation may take hours to days. Deciding on these two imaging modalities always involves a compromise, either in time, resolution, or invasiveness. Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) fills a unique niche between these macro- and micro-imaging modalities as it facilitates non-invasive to minimally invasive in vivo image acquisition in real time. In this two-part series we first examine the equipment available for CLE, and in the second part we will explore several applications of the technology.

Providing high-quality electron images and hyperspectral X-ray maps is a focus of many modern electron microscopy laboratories. Nevertheless, further image processing and annotations are often needed to prepare them for publications and reports. For multi-user facilities, accessibility to processing software can be a limitation either through license costs or availability of processing stations. Open-source software running on multiple platforms allows for post-acquisition data processing in-lab or on user-owned devices. We developed Probelab ReImager to supersede our vendor-supplied acquisition software's exportation by being efficient and highly customizable. This article describes its main features and capabilities.

The polarizing light microscope (PLM) is one of the most versatile tools in the laboratory, permitting the analyst to characterize and identify a very large variety of different materials in addition to determining crystalline polymorphs. Most research-grade PLMs allow various adjustments to align the microscope for centration of components to the optical axis. The Olympus BHSP PLM allows three of the four objective mounts in the rotating objective nosepiece to be centered by using two custom centering wrenches that are supplied with the microscope when purchased new. The same wrenches are additionally used to adjust centering of the stage. Over time, the wrenches can become lost or misplaced, and the wrenches are rarely provided with the sale of a used BHSP microscope. Replacement centering wrenches are often needed. Appropriately sized jeweler's screwdrivers can be used, but these do not remain in place and attached to the nosepiece or stage centering screws while focusing or manipulating other parts of the microscope during the centration procedure. This article provides steps in making suitable replacement centering wrenches.

The education of children, particularly in scientific inquiry, is a powerful force that has shaped humanity's history and holds the key to our future. Given their power to provoke wonder and awe in child and adult alike, microscopes have proven to be transformative as tools for education. Exploratory learning using microscopes has helped to overcome critical barriers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and to broaden participation in these vital fields. Since its inception, the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) has recognized this and made education and outreach to children a priority. Here, we provide a brief review of MSA's efforts in this direction, focusing on current efforts aimed at improving STEM education through the greater adoption and utilization of microscopes.