Michael Hooker Microscopy Facility (MHMF.ORG)

1. Equipment

• A Leica-SP2 AOBS confocal upright microscope with UV and visible excitation wavelengths, aotf beam splitter (replaces dichroic filters), detection with spectral separation, FRAP, FRET
• A Zeiss 510 META laser scanning confocal inverted microscope with visible excitation wavelengths and spectral detection, FRAP, FRET
• A Perkin Elmer Ultraview LCI (Live Cell Imaging) laser spinning disc confocal microscope using the Yokogawa dual Nipkow disk confocal head (CS10)
• An Olympus FV1000 inverter confocal microscope.  405, 440, 488, 514, 559, 635 nm & Ti:sapphire (690-1040 nm) lasers.  Incubator enclosure, SIM scanner, x-y motorized stage (March 2011).
• Thermo Atomic Force Microscope
• Leica AS-LMD - Laser Micro-Dissection system
• Inverted widefield microscope, Nikon TE2000U, with transmitted, DIC, phase contrast, time lapse, ratio imaging, FRET, simultaneous DIC/Fluorescence, DG4 rapid excitation filter changer, Sutter Lambda 10-2 emission filter wheel changer, DVC1412 cooled CCD & DVC IntensicamII 1412 cameras
• Upright microscope, Nikon Diaphot-SA, with high resolution pixel shifting color camera (Nikon DXM 1200)
• Upright microscope, Nikon 80i with transmitted, DIC, phase contrast, and fluorescence illumination, Photometrics QIclick camera, Nikon Elements software.
• Dissecting microscope, Nikon, shares camera and acquisition system on Nikon Diaphot-SA
• Dissecting fluorescence macroscope, Leica MZ16FA with OrcaER & Micropublisher 5 cameras, motorized filter changers, z-axis control.
• Inverted fluorescence, transmitted and DIC widefield microscopes, Leica DMIRB, with MicroPublisher 3.3 megapixel cooled color & OrcaER cooled b/w camera
• 5 PC imaging workstations, 3 high end PCs with 24" hi def monitors for high resolution analysis and viewing with high performance OpenGL graphics cards.  One workstation with Windows 7 64bit 8GByte RAM + 1GByte ATI video.  Also PC for video capture and processing
• File server and domain controller, \\MINSKY  &  \\MARVIN.   The MHMICROSCOPY domain
• RAID backup storage: \\ABBE 10.5 TBytes, \\AI 7.2 TBytes, \\MARVIN 3.5 TBytes
• Web server - http://microscopy.unc.edu/
• FTP server - ftp://152.19.58.173
• Xerox Phaser 8550 solid dye color printer.  On network, print to \\Minsky
• HP 1320 b/w laser printer, dual sided.  On network, print to \\Minsky
• Nuaire humidity controller incubator
• Refrigerator 4C
• Various heated stages, air flow heater, objective heater, gas curtain, Tokai Hit stage warmer
• Coherent laser power meter with visible sensor and in the future a UV sensor.
• AC In line current meter.
• Digit Oscilloscope 100MHz
• Various software, including C-Imaging 6.0, Metamorph 7.1, Volocity 5, Volocity License Server, Photoshop CS 2 to 5, Premiere 6, Slicer, Leica TCS & Zeiss 510 full offline analysis, Voxblast, Acrobat 9, ThumbsPlus 7, ImageJ, ImageJ 64 bit.

2. Mission Statement - Please note that this list is subject to change

The Michael Hooker Microscopy Facility provides high performance digital image acquisition, processing and analysis equipment and know how concentrating on light microscopy.  Multiple modes of imaging are supported including fluorescence, transmitted, differential interference contrast, phase contrast singly or in combination.  Images may be taken in time lapse mode on most equipment and also as z-sections on the confocal microscopes and the TE2000 widefield \\Nipkon setup.  Staff is available to assist with training, operation, maintenance and trouble shooting of the equipment.  All users receive training on the use of specific equipment based, when practical, on their prior knowledge before being allowed to use any of the systems.  Training is directed  towards producing knowledgeable and independent users.  Sample preparation, image analysis and file archiving is the users' responsibility, but advice is offered.  Collaboration with investigators is encouraged.  Most use of equipment is charged on a fee based on units of time used and by the type of equipment used.  Assistance with scanning may be provided at an additional cost.  Users may come from the UNC research community as well as from other Federal, State, private and commercial institutions.  Walk up assistance and advice is provided depending on personnel availability.

The facility is currently under the management of Dr. Michael Chua & Dr. Neal Kramarcy and is located in rooms 6129, 6033a, 6123 and 6033 of the Thurston Bowles Building in the School of Medicine.  Hardware resources are nominally available from 7 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday to trained users.  After hours use is permitted by validated experienced users.  Please make arrangements with the staff for access to the facility.  After hours building access requires a SOM access card to the Thurston Bowles building.  All users should see: http://mhmicroscopy.med.unc.edu/users/UserAccess.html.  Please submit this form on line and also inform facility staff.  Please allow up to 2 business days to complete this process.  Plan ahead!

Training in the independent use and proper care of the microscopes, the associated computer equipment and software, advice in experimental design and assistance in optimal use of the equipment and image processing and handling are available.  Once trained and approved, users are allowed independent access to the equipment.  Training, which involves major contact time, is done by appointment.

A World Wide Web booking calendar system at http://microscopy.unc.edu/booking.htm is provided for the facility, and is viewable on the world wide web.  Authorized users may make or cancel bookings. World Wide Web pages concerning usage of, information about and status of the equipment is located at http://microscopy.unc.edu.  These pages are under constant development and revision.

The facility staff assure that the facility, including optical, mechanical, software, network and computer components, are running efficiently and smoothly.  Occasionally small programs are written to assist in the handling of image data, especially multi-channel, z-series and time series data, and made available to authorized users of the facility.

Logs of equipment and ancillary computers usage are kept.  The information from these logs is passed on to Program in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry where accounting personnel prepare invoices.  In accordance with UNC recharge facility rules all users are billed for time used.  PIs are billed via the usual UNC billing channels.

Staff duties include:

• Consulting:
  • Ad hoc user problem solving & consultations - we will answer queries after hours.
  • Design of the facility resources
  • Operation of the facility resources
  • Scientific Collaborations
  • Thesis committees
• Development:
  • Imaging techniques
  • Hardware
  • Optics 
  • Interfacing
  • Image acquisition software
  • Some custom programming
• Operations:
  • Training users
  • Maintenance
  • Image storage
  • Image transfer
  • Archiving of systems
• Facility Computing:
  • Image analysis
  • Image processing, 2-D
  • Image processing, 3-D
  • Image processing, time lapse
  • Image conversion software
  • Deconvolution
  • Network integration
  • Login accounts - Active Domain & Domain Controllers
  • RAID servers and file backups
• Facility Web pages:
  • Operational Instructions
  • Techniques
  • Theory
  • Booking calendars
  • Billing information
• Training:
  • Microscopy
  • Image acquisition
  • Image processing
  • Optics
• Interact with the diverse array of researchers at UNC
• Equipment grant preparation and submission
• Maintenance and repair of facility hardware as much as practical in order to defray expenses to outside venders and UNC IT resources.

3. Charges

• Charges will be based on usage time at a rate dependent on the equipment used.  Amounts are subject to change and are governed by UNC recharge account rules.
• Training
  • Leica or Zeiss Confocal microscopes 2 three hour sessions - rate per user
  • Perkin Elmer spinning disk three hour session - rate per user
  • Wide field microscopes with digital camera 90 minute session - rate per user
• Supplies
  • Solutions, slides coverslips, blank CDs DVD+RW, etc please bring your own.
  • Immersion oils, lens tissue, gases provided without direct charge
  • DRAQ-5, DAPI in limited quantities.
• Notes
  • Many computers have 4X (or better) DVD writers (~15 minute record time for 4 GBytes) and CV writers for data transfer and archiving
  • All computers are networked for file transfer/archiving
  • Workstations and most acquisition computers have USB and Firewire connections
  • Accessing a shared computer remotely is free of charge but requires a username and password
  • Usage is billed in 15 minute units.  In accordance with standard accounting practice time units used beyond 1 minute will be charged as a full 15 minute unit.
  • Charges are made in order to recover operational costs. 
  • Capital outlays and cost of workshops are not paid for using these funds.

4. Location

• The facility is on the 6th floor of the Thurston/Bowles building, room 6129.  The Zeiss confocal s in room 6033a.  Enter via room 6129.  Leica confocal is in room 6123.  Multiphoton confocal microscope is in room 6033 (March 2011).  Perkin Elmer spinning disk confocal, room 6129, conventional fluorescence and transmitted light microscopes room 6129.  Office room 6007. 

5. Personnel

• Dr. Michael Chua  (director), 6007 Thurston Bowles
• Dr. Neal Kramarcy, 6033a Thurston Bowles

6. Funding

Capital funding for the facility was provided by an anonymous donor.  The Michael Hooker Microscopy Facility is no longer financially supported by the School of Medicine.  Funds derived from usage charges are directed to operational costs, including service contracts, maintenance, consumables and training staff.  The facility has been awarded extramural equipment funds.

Further information please contact the directors or see the facility's web site at http://microscopy.unc.edu

		Copyright 2001-2015  Dr. M. Chua, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
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