RIMI: Confocal Microscopy Facility

新墨西哥州大学的入学率非常高， 代表性不足的少数民族。 这些学生中的许多人主修 科学，并试图获得研究经验，但 由于缺乏通用资源， 校园内的设施。 该提案要求提供资金，以建立一个激光扫描共焦 显微镜设备。 共焦显微镜提供了一个显着的 减少了往往使许多研究 使用传统的荧光显微镜无法携带 出去 此外，共聚焦产生的薄光学切片 显微镜可以与计算机重建结合使用， 来制作高信息量的3D图像 这些特点使得 共聚焦显微镜是一种非常强大的研究工具， 非常适合从进化/生态学研究 细胞/分子研究，在许多情况下，初步 数据显示，这些共焦的可行性 分析。 为这一提议做出贡献的教职员工积极参与了这项工作。 研究计划，涉及许多少数民族本科生和 研究生。 这些学生和其他少数民族学生 就读于新墨西哥州的大学将大大受益于 可以使用共聚焦显微镜 因此， 本提案中要求的共聚焦显微镜系统应 大力加强少数民族学生的培养， 机构。

The University of New Mexico has an extremely high enrollment of underrepresented minorities. Many of these students are majoring in the sciences and are attempting to gain research experience but are finding it difficult because of the lack of common-use resource facilities on campus. This proposal requests funding to establish a laser scanning confocal microscopy facility. Confocal microscopes provide a marked reduction in the out-of-focus haze that tends to make many studies employing conventional flourescence microscopy impossible to carry out. In addition, the thin optical sections produced by confocal microscopy can be used in conjunction with computer reconstructions to produce highly informative 3-D images. Such features make the confocal microscope an extremely powerful research tool that is ideally suited for the wide range from evolutionary/ecological studies to cellular/molecular investigations, an in many cases, preliminary data are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of these confocal analyses. The faculty members contributing to this proposal have active research programs that involve numerous minority undergraduate and graduate students. These students and other minority students enrolled at the University of New Mexico would greatly benefit from having access to a confocal microscope. Thus, the acquisition of the confocal microscopy system requested in this proposal should significantly enhance the training of minority students at out institution.