This Pre-Meeting Congress is co-presented by the International Society for Analytical Cytology (ISAC) and the Microscopy Society of America (MSA). This first collaboration with ISAC brings leading scientists from three areas, fundamental microscopy, flow cytometry and biological imaging, to discuss quantitative aspects of cellular analysis, instrumental design and determination of structure and function of cells. Through automated platforms, we have moved beyond the days when observations of cells led to reproducible analytical processes. There is now both need and opportunity to focus on the quantitative aspects of cell analysis and the handing of large amounts of data. This Congress will have both introductory and advanced lectures in a unique forum suitable for the research community, technicians, governmental and educational programs, and those wishing to expand their knowledge in this interdisciplinary growth area.

Numerous laboratories are now exploring the promise of aberration-corrected electron optics with a new generation of (S)TEM instruments. However, data interpretation at sub-Angstroem resolution can be complicated by: electron channeling and contrast delocalization; amorphous surface layers in contrast formation; electron beam energy deposition during analysis; and deviations from optimal electron optical alignment, among others. This Congress will focus on the challenges of contrast interpretation, and potential strategies to mitigate their influence, including choice of instrumental parameters, hyperspectral imaging methods (e.g., exit wave reconstruction, time-resolved methods), and the tandem performance of simulation and/or complementary measurements, such as diffractive imaging or electron holography.

2008 MSA Pre-Meeting Congress Speakers
"Contrast Interpretation in an Aberration-Free Environment"
Organizers: Larry Allard, Douglas Blom and Jim Zuo
Albuquerque NM, Sunday August 3, 2008

Preliminary Program

0700 - 0745     Registration and Continental Breakfast
0745 - 0800     Welcoming Remarks and FIG Business: Organizers

Session 1 Chair: Douglas Blom
"Applications and Performance"

0800 - 0840     David Muller Cornell University
"Aberration-Corrected STEM in 2 & 3 Dimensions"

0840 - 0920     Yimei Zhu Brookhaven National Laboratory
"Contrast Interpretation and the Performance of Aberration-Corrected Electron Microscopes at BNL"

0920 - 1000     David Bell Harvard University
"Cs Correction in a Monochromated Environment"

1000 - 1030     Morning Break: Coffee and High-Calorie Goodies

Session 2 Chair: David Bell
"Theory and Aberration Characterization"

1030 - 1110     Angus Kirkland Oxford University
"Measurement and Diagnosis of Aberrations for HRTEM: Current Status and Future prospects"

1110 - 1150     Andrew Bleloch University of Liverpool
"Know Your STEM Probe"

1150 - 1230     Mark Oxley Oak Ridge National Laboratory
"Resolution and Information Transfer in High-Resolution STEM"

1230 - 1320     Catered Lunch

Session 3 Chair: Andrew Bleloch
"Non-Hardware Correction"

1320 - 1400     Michael O'Keefe Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
"Image Resolution at the TEM Information Limit by Reconstruction of the Specimen Exit-Surface Wave"

1400 - 1440     Jim Zuo
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"Seeing Atoms in Nanoparticles in Sub-Angstroem Resolution by Electron Diffraction"

1440 - 1530     Martin Linck Triebenberg Laboratory, TU Dresden
"Electron Holography in an Aberration-Corrected TEM"

1530 - 1550     Afternoon Break: More High-Calorie Goodies

Session 4 Chair: Jim Zuo
"CREST and TEAM Projects"

1550 - 1630     Hidetaka Sawada JEOL LTD
"Imaging Results from the CREST Project R05 Instrument"

1630 - 1710     Rolf Erni Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
"TEAM 0.5 - Exploring Sub-50pm Information Transfer in TEM and STEM"

1710 - 1720     Wrap-up, and See you at the Social!