Micro News

San Francisco Microscopical Society

Autumn 2020 (Volume 15, #3)

Fall Meetings Have Been Postponed – Look for Zoom Presentations 

We face the universal problem of this pandemic. We cannot hold meetings where we gather people into a room where they can become infected with the Corona virus that has now killed 200,000 people in the US as of mid September. The SFMS board has held two meetings to try and find a solution. Each meeting was held on Zoom and each meeting is reported inside based on the minutes of the meeting. Apologies are extended to any member who may have wanted to be included in the zoom meetings. We hope that in the future you will receive a notice of an upcoming meeting and that you can apply to be included. Do not make your decision to attend a last-minute decision. It takes time to inform you of the meeting time and for the password to join the meeting so act expeditiously when you see the announcement of the SFMS Board Meeting announcement.

If you have not taken part in a Zoom meeting, please go to Zoom and download the small program that lets you participate. It is free. There are also numerous YouTube videos that explain how it works. The free version to organize meetings is great for small groups of friends or family get-togethers. The society owns a more advanced copy and will use it for presentations.
–HS

President Hank Fabian: SFMS Will Persevere 

By Hank Fabian, President of SFMS

My fellow microscopy nerds, depending upon whom you talk to, we are in the beginning or middle of the Covid-19 crisis and we are a long way from the end.
Some people think we can achieve herd immunity while others are saying that immunity to the virus may only last a few months.  If the latter is correct, herd immunity will be extremely difficult if not impossible to develop. The same is true for the vaccine. It is unlikely to be like the one you got for polio. Chances are you’ll have to get one at regular intervals. I’ve been told that 20% of the American public do not believe in vaccines, so they will remain victims and carriers even if a good vaccine surfaces. There is no better time than now to clean those ocular and objective lenes, prepare a slide, and amaze yourself with the micro world.

Now admittedly, many of us are introverts, so the Covid-19 virus may not have changed our lives that much. After all, this is not the blitz.  You can be safe and secure at home and when you do go out, wear a mask, keep hand sanitizer handy in your car, and use it frequently. Also keep your distance—six feet minimum—from other people and at home or work, wash your hands often. You know the routine. Imagine everyone is a carrier and you are in a twilight zone episode. They are all out to kill you---or not! I’m not here to promote paranoia, but in this case, a little paranoia may just save your life or the life of someone you know or love. Let’s be kind to strangers as well and do your bit to protect them.  The virus is real.  Even the faux news programs admit that now. 

Back to Microscopy. Paraphrasing the words of my hero, Rahm Emanuel, we may be in a crisis, but there is no need to let it go to waste. Here is my suggestion: start sharing microscopic images (micrographs) with fellow SFMS members and friends. You can take images through the ocular lens using your cellphone with devices you can purchase on e-Bay that will hold and keep your cellphone in place on your microscope or search for Cellphone Clip-on Lenses. They are inexpensive and magnify enough to produce some interesting examples of insects, plants, or some aquatic organisms. Then share those images with others. Getting good pictures will take some practice and if you are not as nimble as you used to be, and you’re not sure what you’re looking at, download the free iNaturalist application to help you get a good identification. If you sign up to iNaturalist.org you can add your observations to the data base and others will weigh in to either improve on the ID or agree with the original one. 
Live sessions on your computer with friends can be arranged without leaving the comfort of home. In a short description below, and a view of a twelve minute YouTube with Martha Chatley you can set up a free Zoom online meeting in which you can share information and any program or images you have on your computer. 

Cameras designed to fit on your microscope are also an option. They are available in every price range and usually come with a CD that you download to your memory. 

What Zoom Can Do for You

Need an introduction to Zoom? Go to www.Zoom.us. Scroll down to the video section and find:

How to Host a Zoom Call for the First Time – Fun and Easy Online (About 12 minutes). Martha does a great job to get you started.
If you have not participated in a Zoom meeting, you may find the following description useful. This application is now widely used in business and by social groups to bring people together at one time. Zoom is one of several programs, perhaps as many as 100, that connect temporarily your computer screen, camera and microphone with the computers of other participants who have been admitted to the meeting. To make it work successfully, each participant should turn off their microphone except for the speaker in order to reduce the background noise of rustling paper, clinking glasses, coughs and sneezes and other extraneous noises. When your curser is in the lower left corner of your screen, symbols appear letting you turn on or off your microphone or camera. You will learn more about this later after you have digested the instructions on Zoom. If you also connect with your phone to a Zoom meeting, it will cause a reverberation effect which is unpleasant so be sure your computer microphone is off.

Zoom Meeting Tips is another 12 minute YouTube video that can be quite helpful. While the basic Zoom version is free, that version limits you to 40 minutes and is a good format to learn to use the program. Participants only need the basic program. Originators eventually may find it desirable to own a more advanced version that is not time limited.
– HF

Understanding Viruses and Viral Diseases

By H. Schott

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who warned of pandemics in 2006, says we can beat the novel coronavirus. He worked with the World Health Organization in the effort to eradicate smallpox. Larry Brilliant, has fought flu, polio, and blindness and once led Google’s nonprofit wing. In an interview with a Wired magazine writer, he was asked “Are you scared?”

I'm in the age group (Larry is now 75) that has a one in seven mortality rate if I get it. If you're not worried, you're not paying attention. But I'm not scared. I firmly believe that the steps that we're taking will extend the time that it takes for the virus to make the rounds. I think that, in turn, will increase the likelihood that we will have a vaccine, or we will have a prophylactic antiviral in time to cut off, reduce, or truncate the spread. Everybody needs to remember: This is not a zombie apocalypse. It's not a mass extinction event. (Wired Magazine)

It is no great wonder that most people do not know much about viruses. Now, for the moment, interest is high, and people want to know how to avoid viruses, in particular how to avoid Corona viruses. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and do all that you need to do to keep your body in tip-top shape. Then consider the following quote from Wikipedia: “In January 2018, scientists reported that 800 million viruses, mainly of marine origin, are deposited daily from the Earth's atmosphere onto every square meter of the planet's surface, as the result of a global atmospheric stream of viruses, circulating above the weather system, but below the altitude of usual airline travel, distributing viruses around the planet.[242][243]” Wikipedia “Viruses” 

Your desk is larger than a square meter and is covered with 0.8 billion or more viruses each day. Get out the dustpan and broom and fill the garbage can. So very small is each virus that we are unable to see viruses without powerful electron microscopes.

I am a biologist. I am not a virologist, bacteriologist, MD or epidemiologist. I did teach physiology and anatomy so I will focus on what I know or have recently read. I am also 92 and that makes me feel a bit vulnerable and yes, I am scared because I am just not ready to go, just yet. 
Perhaps the first question we should explore is to ask if viruses are alive? We know that these particles contain genetic material in the form that is found in our cells. This material is called DNA and RNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is arranged in a double stranded helix and RNA or ribonucleic acid is, a single stranded molecule composed of units similar to DNA. The DNA is called the genetic code and consists of four subunits identified by their first letter of their chemical name, A, T, G, and C. These four letters can be arranged into 64 different combinations of three letters each, such as AAC, AAT, ACA, ATA, TAC, CGT, etc. Because these strands of DNA are the instructions for making proteins, they are present in all living things and are the molecules that drive evolution. In your cells, DNA must be translated to a slightly different messenger molecule, mRNA, that can be used by the machinery of the cell to assemble a protein molecule. Every cell uses thousands of different proteins to carry out the chemistry of life since proteins can have structural functions, (think of your muscles) or catalytic functions that speed up chemical reactions. Proteins can be very complex molecules, but they are built out of simpler units called amino acids that are strung together like beads on a string and then folded in a specific way. In animals, there are 20 different amino acids and their order of assembly to form a protein molecule are defined by the order of the 64 three letter codes in DNA. In plants, there are more than 20 amino acids but that is unimportant for this discussion. 

Viruses evolve; some evolve very rapidly. Living organisms also reproduce either by sexual interaction which involves the exchange or transfer of genetic material between two similar organisms or by simply duplicating their genetic material and then splitting into two new cells with identical characteristics. The process of splitting into two identical organisms is called asexual reproduction. 

Viruses do not follow these patterns of reproduction. They cannot reproduce on their own but must invade a living cell and there take over the mechanism of reproduction of the cell. Using these resources, the virus then can manufacture multiple copies of its own genetic material and construct the encapsulating proteins until the cell is destroyed and the newly formed viruses are spilled out into the space around the nearby cells. The essential steps are that the invading virus must land on a living cell, often in the lining of the lung or the intestine, adhere to the surface of a cell by attaching to surface glycoproteins of that cell, inject or otherwise inserting into the cell its genetic material, prevent the cell from digesting and thus destroying this foreign material. It then must dissolve the nuclear material so that it can be reorganized into many copies of the genetic structure of the virus, build protein coats into which the new viral genetic material can be packaged and manage all this in 20 or 30 minutes by which time the cell is destroyed and the new viral particles are released to repeat the cycle in many more cells. If each cell produces 300 new viral particles in 20 minutes and they successfully invade new cells, how many viruses would be circulating after three hours? 

How are we to judge viruses as living things? Unable to reproduce on their own or by sexual conjugation, viruses are extremely successful in multiplying their number in the right environment. For the SARS Corona virus your body is just the right environment.

Life as we know it would not have survived if viruses did not also cause a defensive reaction in the host that they attack. The body defenses are varied and complex and would take numerous pages to tell in a coherent manner, but they depend upon white blood cells first recognizing the protein coat of the virus as a foreign substance. Then developing a mechanism that will recognize the foreign material and tag it for destruction. Then training cells to engulf and destroy the invader. These steps take time and if various defense mechanisms are slow to react or insufficient to control the rapidly multiplying viral population , the viruses will injure enough cells to cause death. That is what is meant by a compromised immune response, one that is insufficient to prevent the spread and rapid multiplication of invading viruses. 

As cells are destroyed by the multiplying viruses the immediate response by the body is inflammation. You know that inflammation occurs when you have an injury or an infection and the area turns red and becomes swollen due to increased blood flow and the accumulation of fluid. In a corona virus attack you cannot see the damage the viruses inflict on the surface of the body since it occurs in the lungs and/or intestines, but the inflammatory response occurs nevertheless in the tissue where the damage is occurring. The lungs and the digestive system are not the only organs that the Corona virus can attack. Damage can occur in the kidneys, the heart, and the blood vessels as well as the lungs and the digestive system. 

If we are to understand that damage, we must first know what is normal. Let us take a closer look at the lung tissue that is often described as being spongy. This mean ‘composed of many chambers’, called alveoli which are much more complex structures than the spaces in a sponge. The alveoli are each surrounded by a capillary network through which blood is flowing from arterioles to venules. The length of a capillary is about one millimeter and a red blood cell, the erythrocyte, takes about one second to travel that distance in capillaries. While in the capillary, the red blood cells become saturated with oxygen to bring to all parts of the body and at the same time the blood delivers carbon dioxide to the alveolar space. The protein that binds to the oxygen molecules is called hemoglobin and each hemoglobin molecule can bond to four oxygen molecules. In normal individuals the blood leaving the capillary is saturated with oxygen or 99% full. 

How does oxygen get to the red blood cell? When you are at rest, sitting in a chair or on a couch, you inhale a volume of one or two cups of air to the 16 cups or one gallon of air already in your lungs. You exhale the same amount about 12 times a minute. But the air you exhale has a different composition compared to what you inhale. Tiny tubes connect the alveoli to the bronchioles that connect to the bronchi and then to the trachea. The trachea connects to the mouth and nose. The air in all that plumbing does not reach the blood unless it gets into the alveoli when you inhale so even the two capfuls of air inhaled are diluted by that volume. Think of hemoglobin behaving like a magnet and clamping onto oxygen if it is available. You have heard of diffusion. Molecules move from where they are concentrated to where they are less concentrated. The oxygen concentration gradient favors the movement of oxygen molecules from the alveoli where the concentration of oxygen is high into the capillaries where it is lower. The reverse is true for carbon dioxide. The surface of the walls of the alveoli is covered with a watery liquid. The air-water interface results in surface tension. The water molecules do not want to let go of each other and pull with enough force to float a clean sewing needle on the surface in a glass of water. Add a toothpick dipped in soap and the needle sinks. Soap reduces the surface tension. Cells in the wall of the alveoli called granular pneumocytes release phospholipids, proteins and glycosamineglycans that form a film in the watery liquid where the phospholipids are the surfactants that reduce surface tension which would otherwise collapse the alveolus.

To get oxygen from inhaled air to the hemoglobin molecules in the red blood cells it must move through the watery coat, the thin membranous pneumocytes (squamous epithelium), the basement membrane, the interstitial space between cells filled with lymphatic fluid, the endothelia cells of the capillary wall the plasma of the blood and finally the cell membrane of the erythrocyte or red blood cell wall. All this must be kept in perfect balance so that the alveoli are not flooded with fluid and the blood is kept moving while demand for oxygen changes from resting conditions to maximal energy output as in a race or climbing a steep hill. Increase the distance that diffusion of oxygen must travel even slightly, and the entire system becomes taxed and less efficient. With increasing age, the alveoli become less elastic, reduced in surface area, damaged by various diseases and environ-mental factors such as smoke or occupational exposure to toxins. Reduced oxygen availability has wide ranging effects on other organs including the heart, brain, and kidneys. We may call it the effect of aging, but this catch-all phrase gives us no information as to what is actually happening at the tissue and cellular level.
(Photo above: SEM image in false color of alveoli and surrounding capillary networks offering a large surface area for gas exchange.)

If this describes the normal conditions of respiration how do the corona virus infections alter the survival curve when you are exposed to their onslaught? As viruses infect cells and cause them to die and shed more viruses, the alveoli are flooded with debris of dead cells that changes the fluid balance in that space. The normal balance of electrolytes, the chemicals that are present in the fluids of the body, is disrupted and more water is drawn to that location contributing to the inflammatory response, a condition that should help the body to isolate the damaged area. Blood flow to the inflamed area is increased and the white blood cells leave the capillaries and wander between the healthy and the damaged cells engulfing debris and identifying foreign proteins. They are a part of the immune response which is too complex to describe in detail in these few pages.

A few facts about the immune system will be helpful in understanding Covid-19. Our immune system is designed to distinguish between “self” tissues and their proteins and the “non-self” tissues and proteins. This ability of the immune system to recognize foreign proteins prevents transplanting animal organs into humans without first suppressing the immune response, a suppression that must be maintained during the rest of the patient’s life. The immune system can build antibodies against foreign proteins, called antigens, and release them into the blood stream. Antibodies have two or more sites that recognize complementary sites on the surface of the “non-self” material, the antigens, such as molecules found on a virus or bacterium. As antibodies find these antigens, they cause clumping making it more efficient for white blood cells to engulf and digest the “non-self” material. Memory cells remember how to construct the antibodies so that if the same antigens reoccur, the memory cells are stimulated to reproduce and to quickly produce more antibodies to neutralize the antigens. This rapid response is what produces immunity. If the antigens undergo mutations resulting in changes in the shape of the proteins, the memory cells are unable to recognize them and therefore do not respond. This is true for the flu, which is why we need a flu shot every year to build up new memory cells against the latest version of the rapidly evolving antigens of the influenza virus. The Covid-19 virus is totally new to humans, so no one is immune. While it is likely that those who recover will be temporarily immune, if the virus is capable of rapid mutations, a Covid-19 vaccine shot will be needed each year. Preparing an effective vaccine is no easy matter and making enough for seven billion people and administering the injections requires a vast network of trained health workers. Are we likely to see this happen in a short time period or will it take a long time to immunize everybody? One million Corona virus deaths have occurred world-wide as of September 28, 2020, and we have not yet successfully produce a vaccine because it takes a lot of time to make sure the vaccine works correctly and does not do any harm.
(Normal human lung with left side (L) on the right of the image. Note the denser heart.)

Response to Inflammation
Let us return to the alveolus in the lung where the Covid-19 viruses are destroying cells and the body is responding with inflammation. Fluid from between the cells, the infected cells, and the blood stream is leaking into the alveolus and slowly filling the space. This is what occurs in pneumonia and often leads to death in the elderly and those who have a compromised immune system. Viruses are released into the alveolar fluid and find their way into the surrounding alveoli where there are more cells to attack. While healthy lung tissue looks dark on an x-ray, (note the image where the lighter part of the image defines the denser ribs, heart and spinal column in healthy lung) fluid filled alveoli would look as light patches. As more of the lung is compromised, less oxygen is absorbed into the plasma and then by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The hospital patient is given oxygen to breath to compensate for the reduced ability to saturate all the blood flowing through the lungs. This added oxygen in each breath has no effect on alveoli that have collapsed due to being flooded with fluid since air is unable to enter the flooded space.
We all have seen the images of the Corona virus with its colorful knobs, but the truth is that virus particles and associated molecules are to small to have any color. These images seen in popular magazines and television programs are a way to popularize the rather drab grey image seen with electron microscopes. To see a color, we need white light containing a variety of visible wavelengths to strike a surface but to reflect only the wavelength of one color while the other wavelengths are absorbed. The exception to this is when we observe fluorescence. When molecules in cells have been modified by having been combined with a fluorophore and are then exited by a laser beam, they absorb that energy and reradiate it in a specific part of the visible spectrum, such as green, red, yellow or blue, depending on the properties of the fluorophore, revealing where in the cell these specific molecules are concentrated. This is the principle on which fluorescence microscopy, a very useful tool, works.

I recently saw on the internet the report of Dr. Bernard, of the University of Illinois, who received the information from doctors at the Wuhan Union Medical College and Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in China describing one of the first Covid-19 cases. I have reduced the length of the article and used only one of the two cases that were described. The original publication dates to March 2020. I have edited the material to make it clearer. The original article was prepared by the following: David Lai, MD; Che Sed, PhD; Zheng Chuansheng, PhD; Fan Yanqing MD; Han Xiaoyu MD; and She Heshui, MD. Reading this case study is instructive on several levels including the reasoning given for any intervention and medical procedure that is described. Remember that this is one of the first cases reported when a pandemic was not yet suspected.

The patient was admitted to the hospital and received a CT scan that found pneumonia.
Patient was moved into the intensive care unit. He was turned over on to his stomach, to help get more oxygen in his lungs during machine ventilation. 

The COVID-19's main feature is pneumonia. But how does the virus cause this?  The spikes on the virus surface, are protein. The viral genome dictates how every protein is made. We have the genome fully sequenced, so we know these spikes are similar to the ones on the first SARS virus that had an outbreak in 2003.

These spikes interact with something (on the surface of cells) called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 or ACE2 in humans. It looks like this is how it enters cells in the lower lung. When it enters, it injects its RNA and hijacks the lung cell to create viral materials instead of letting the cell live its normal life. It kills the cell while creating more virus.

But humans have ACE2 in the stomach and the intestines and specific parts of the male anatomy. ACE2 is also found on the kidney endothelium and, it's in the heart which could explain patient's damaged heart.

Problems in the stomach or in male’s sexual anatomy probably won't kill someone immediately. But a problem in the heart or lungs can kill someone in minutes, which brings us back to pneumonia.

When the body's immune system detects viral damage in the lungs, it reacts. It expands the blood vessels, so more immune cells can enter the tissue, but this also means fluid fills the patient's lungs. This makes breathing harder, because now the lungs can't exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood (efficiently).

The machine ventilator was used to push air under pressure into the patient's lungs. But high pressure pumping air into (the lung) lowers the movement of air out. What's in the air going out? Carbon dioxide!

So, carbon dioxide levels increase in the blood when the pressure is high. This is uncomfortable and patients will instinctively try to breathe against the ventilator. That might knock things off sync, so medicines were given to temporarily paralyze the patient's respiratory muscles, so he can't fight the machine. Medicines were given to sedate him so that he wouldn't be fully conscious while paralyzed.

All of these things, low tidal volume ventilation, muscle paralysis and sedation, and early prone position, that's turning him on to his stomach, have been shown to decrease mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome or ARDS, just like the patient.

Dialysis was started because his kidneys were starting to fail. A viral infection in the lung can cause other germs to start growing, and in this patient, bacteria were starting to grow.

Why this happens is not really clear. It could be that a viral infection reduces the body's (available resources) to fight a bacterial co-infection. But it also could be that viruses directly sabotage the immune system's ability to fight off a co-infection.

Whatever the case is, the patient was started on multiple antibiotics to cover many kinds of bacteria. He was treated for his symptoms in intensive care. But it wasn't enough.

Five days later, on Jan. 9, 2020, the bacteria that were in his lungs were floating around in his blood. His blood pressure started to drop because his immune system was reacting to those bacteria by dilating all the blood vessels. Tiny clots were forming in his bloodstream that were lodging in the blood vessels of his organs, blocking blood flow and causing them to shut down. At midnight on Jan. 15, 2020, patient's heart stopped beating. A code was announced in the hospital, as doctors rushed in to try to resuscitate him. By 12:45 a.m., the code was called off. Patient could not be resuscitated. (End of medical report)

These critically ill cases of COVID-19 are cases of severe pneumonia. That is how the virus affects humans.

If these were isolated cases that happened months apart from each other in different parts of the country, maybe no one would have thought twice about it.

But if multiple cases come through in a short time, in the same place, with an illness this serious, then it's cause for concern. In America, in 1981, there was an outbreak of 11 cases of rare fungal pneumonia. This ended up being the first description of AIDS.

That fungus that caused their pneumonia is everywhere in the air. You might be breathing it right now, but your immune system handles it, no problem. An AIDS patient, though, has a weak immune system.

When these 11 cases were identified back then, no one knew what AIDS was, meaning these patients were in end-stage disease. The fungus was growing all over their lungs, causing that rare pneumonia. So, "rare pneumonia" coming up often, can trigger an alarm of an outbreak of communicable disease, but you have to be careful. You don't want to cry wolf, but you also don't want to not tell anyone something bad could be spreading.

CONCLUSION: So here's what we know. Fever and pneumonia are present in almost all cases of COVID-19. Other problems like with the heart and kidneys and stomach, may also be possible, it depends.

There could be people who are infected and don't have symptoms. It looks like those people can spread the virus through respiratory droplets from their lungs.

Surface contamination? The data are not conclusive, so wash your hands. Asymptomatic spread is the scarier scenario because those people may not get isolated or quarantined immediately, and infect others unknowingly, so that's why it would be best if we could do a serology or a testing method to find antibodies in someone to the SARS2 virus, the name of the virus that causes Covid-19.

But on the flip side, if someone is held in isolation, with maybe some of the potentially more subjective symptoms, are they really short of breath, or do they think they're short of breath now that they know they're being held in isolation? What happens when they don't have symptoms, but insist they do and demand treatment that they don't need? Nobody wants that tube down their throat, trust me.

If the illness keeps getting worse pneumonia, fever and secondary infection develop. Bacteria breaks off and starts floating around in the blood. Organs start to shut down because blood pressure is too low from the immune system trying to attack the bacteria in blood. Metabolic waste and acid build up in the blood, causing the heart to stop beating resulting in death. 
The good news is that is not what happens in the majority of patients. The official number says mortality for COVID-19 is somewhere between 2%-5%. Assume we take that with a grain of salt. The cases that are confirmed here in the United States show the same pneumonia and respiratory issues described by doctors in China. Take good care of yourself, wash hands frequently and wear a mask.

The Chinese patient was an older person who had prior medical histories. Severe pneumonia is going to hit that demographic pretty hard.
end of China report.

There are many facets of this pandemic that are of both medical and sociological interest. Our understanding of the way in which tissues function when attacked by viruses have been explored effectively though both light and electron microscopy. While we seldom read reports of just how microscopy has played a role in recognizing diseases, confirming tissue damage, and evaluating the benefits of treatment, we know that the microscope continues to play an important role in many aspects of medicine.
– HS

Synopsis of the SFMS Board Meeting 

September 18, 2020
The Zoom virtual meeting began at 5:00 pm with President Hank Williams, Vice President Taylor Bell, Treasure Myron Chan, and Recording Secretary Theresa Halula, Corresponding Secretary Eric Weinstein and guest Ariel Waldman. 

After the minutes of the last meeting were approved, Hank reported on his efforts to reach Brian White, a potential presenter. The board voted to reimburse Hank for the purchase of a SFMS Zoom account used for these and future meetings. Myron gave a financial report. 

The board invited students enrolled in the three community colleges, Contra Costa College, San Francisco City College, and Merritt College, to be student members at no membership fee for one year, 2021, and to offer the same to Randal Museum, California Academy, Oakland Museum, Lawrence Hall of Science, Chabot Space and Science Center. Hank was asked to contact these museums to participate and to explore “joint memberships”. Discussion raised a number of questions that need to be resolved. 

The board agreed to review our website and to migrate it to a simpler platform. Once Ariel has administrative access, she has agreed to point the old URL to the new URL. She will archive a copy of all the files from the old website at that time. Further discussion of the cost and the ease of maintenance was discussed. 

When we return to in-person meetings at the Randall Museum we have a reservation for use of a meeting room on the evening of the second Tuesday of the month. Myron arranged this with Nathan at the museum. 

The board members are asked to explore how to broadcast remote microscope images in real time. They should prepare reviews of “best in class” microscopes and cameras, and other ocular tube image transfer devices based on price point.
The next meeting of the SFMS Board will be scheduled for late in October. Contact Hank at hfabian@peralta.edu  if you want to attend or have a topic brought to the attention of the board members.
– HS

A Word of Explanation

By Henry Schott, Editor

This issue has been particularly hard to get together in part because we have been isolated and in part because it is, to some extent, entirely based on the motivation of the editor who is clearly slowing down on this and several other projects.

It should be obvious to the membership that the old guard is stepping out of the picture and that younger, and more energetic individuals are taking up the tasks that keep our organization functioning. It is a worthwhile task with rewards of accomplishments and friendships. There will be a time when we will again meet to share interesting experiences, so it is important to let new members know that we are a resource and a viable organization.

In Memoriam

– John Austin Field, Medical Doctor, Microscope Collector, and Leitz Historian.
(Below, please read the obituary received through Hank Fabian, President SFMS, on October 23, 2020. I had the privilege of visiting his home on a field trip that was arranged perhaps 20 years ago. We had a tour of his “Microscopy” room as well as seeing his mechanical musical instruments. John was installing a hardwood floor, doing all the work himself. It was a demonstration of his wide-ranging skills. He and his wife Diane, regularly drove up to San Francisco from Santa Cruz to attend SFMS meetings and to show us some unique slides from his collection. His contributions to the society’s meetings were always interesting and informative.)
– HS


John A. Field was born May 6, 1935; he passed quietly from Earth on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 with family by his side. John dearly loved his wife, children, and grandchildren. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and colleagues. 

Members of various worldwide microscope societies knew John and many others will recognize the name because of John’s activities related to collecting and documenting historical Leitz microscopes. John is survived by his wife, Dianne Farison Field, his younger brother Charlie, and his three children, John, Cara, and David, and their respective families and two grandchildren Severin and Sophia, children of John and Anna. He is preceded in death by his younger brother Richard.

John, a retired orthopedic surgeon, had many skills and hobbies. In addition to being an accomplished medical doctor, and a noted Leitz microscope collector and historian, John was also an accomplished electrician, machinist, and photographer. His interests were wide-ranging, including a variety of antique optical instruments, Leica cameras, stereoscopic cameras and photographs, antique microscope slides, mechanical musical instruments, antique radios, toy trains and many, many other historical mechanical wonders.  

John’s numerous published contributions to the history of the Leitz microscope are well known (see the selected bibliography below). John was often sought for advice regarding the workings and history of Leitz microscopes; he mentored many microscope enthusiasts in providing detailed information about use and manufacture of Leitz equipment.  His recall of every component was nothing short of remarkable. John was a valued member of the Microscopical Society of Southern California (formerly the Los Angles Microscopical Society), and the San Francisco Microscopical Society, as well as many other societies (such as the Music Box Society, the Sand Collectors Society and the Stereoscopic Society).

John had many interests in life that he pursued with vigor and great mental acuity. His interest in microscopy started at the age of six or seven, when he was able to explore the microscopic world using an antique brass toy microscope handed down from his father’s childhood. John’s father, Dr. John “Jack” Field, was a graduate of Stanford University and a member of the Stanford faculty, and a Professor in the Department of Physiology; he also helped to establish the National Science Foundation. His mother, Sally Miller, a chemist, was also a graduate of Stanford.   
Donations in memory of John can be made to Hospice of Santa Cruz. 

John’s obituary in the Santa Cruz Sentinel can be viewed at https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/santacruzsentinel/obituary.aspx?n=john-austin-field&pid=196951193 and other inquiries and condolences can be shared with John’s wife Dianne and his family via his son John C. Field (email jcfield@ucsc.edu).  
Articles published in the Journal of the Microscope Historical Society:
2003, Vol. 11.1. Leitz Lines
2004, Fall- Leitz Simple Magnifiers

SFMS member Ariel Waldman selected to be one of five Nikon Instruments Judges for The 46th Nikon Small World Competition

For 46 years, Nikon Small World has been recognized as a leading forum to celebrate excellency in microscopy in the form of photos and videos. The competition will honor the top 20 photography and top 5 video winners in addition to awarding Honorable Mentions and Images of Distinction. Winning submissions will be recognized for their exceptional ability to capture visually stunning and scientifically significant moments under the microscope. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Nikon Small World in Motion, this year's top prize winners of both the video and photo competitions will receive a trip to Japan for themselves and a loved one in addition to the yearly cash prize.

Ariel Waldman, Chair of the External Council for NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program: Waldman led a five-week expedition to Antarctica to film microscopic life under the ice. She is the co-author of a congressionally requested National Academy of Sciences report on the future of human spaceflight and the author of the book What's It Like in Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There. Waldman is the global director of Science Hack Day, a two-day hackathon for creating science-driven inventions and prototypes. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a member of the San Francisco Microscopical Society, and received an honoree from the Obama White House as a Champion of Change in citizen science. As an art school graduate, Ariel's mission is to build multidisciplinary collaborations in science.