Special Steps Research Articles

CsSNP: A Web-Based Tool for the Detecting of Comparative Segments SNPs.

SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) is a popular tool for the study of genetic diversity, evolution, and other areas. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a convenient, utility, robust, rapid, and open source detecting-SNP tool for all researchers. Since the detection of SNPs needs special software and series steps including alignment, detection, analysis and present, the study of SNPs is limited for nonprofessional users. CsSNP (Comparative segments SNP, http://biodb.sdau.edu.cn/cssnp/ ) is a freely available web tool based on the Blat, Blast, and Perl programs to detect comparative segments SNPs and to show the detail information of SNPs. The results are filtered and presented in the statistics figure and a Gbrowse map. This platform contains the reference genomic sequences and coding sequences of 60 plant species, and also provides new opportunities for the users to detect SNPs easily. CsSNP is provided a convenient tool for nonprofessional users to find comparative segments SNPs in their own sequences, and give the users the information and the analysis of SNPs, and display these data in a dynamic map. It provides a new method to detect SNPs and may accelerate related studies.

Walkaway VSP using multimode optical fibers in a hybrid wireline

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is a novel technology that uses an optical fiber cable as a sensor for acoustic signals and can take almost any downhole fiber-optic installation or deployment and turn the fiber-optic cable into a large downhole seismic array. This array can provide enhanced vertical seismic profile (VSP) imaging and monitor fluids and pressure changes in the hydrocarbon-production reservoir. Walkaway VSP data acquired over a formerly producing well in northeastern China provided a rich set of high-quality DAS walkaway VSP data. A standard VSP data preprocessing workflow was applied, followed by prestack Kirchhoff time migration. In the DAS preprocessing step, we were faced with additional challenges: strong coherent noise due to cable slapping and ringing along the borehole casing. Compared with an earlier offset VSP data set using 327 levels acquired with conventional 3C downhole geophones in the same well, the final preprocessed DAS walkaway VSP has a larger vertical aperture, resulting in a wider lateral image. The single-well DAS walkaway VSP images provide a good result with higher vertical and lateral resolution than the surface seismic in the objective area. The vertical-well environment, which lacks the ability to effectively “clamp” the sensor to the borehole-casing wall by touching, creates a unique set of challenges. Although earth signal was recorded with almost all the shots, there was also a considerable amount of noise. Much of the noise was due to the physical placement of the wireline in the well and was expressed by slapping and ringing. Reported here are lessons learned in handling the wireline cable and subsequent special DAS data processing steps developed to remediate some of the practical wireline deployment issues. Optical wireline cable as a conveyance of fiber-optic cables for VSP in vertical wells will open the use of the DAS system to wider applications.

Development of a Simplified Numerical Model for the Design of 2G High-Temperature Superconductors

Within the past few years, robust superconductors known as second-generation high-temperature superconductor (HTS) tapes were developed for different industrial applications. For some of them, it is necessary to transform the flat shape of the tape into a cylindrical one. It requires special fabrication steps that include phases of large-scale bending, which induce both axial and shear stresses. It could lead to the degradation of the superconductive layer. The manufacturing process of an HTS cylindrical wire requires some analysis of stress and strain induced during fabrication. The selected process also defines the initial tape architecture. The use of the finite-element method for the analysis of the model of this complex material requires fine meshes and a lot of computation time because of the ultrathin size of the superconductive layer. In this paper, we present a simplified model, based on the classical beam theory, along with the subdivision of each layer into small sublayers affected by purely axial stress. The model is created with consideration of the plastic behavior of the HTS tape consisting of different materials. The model has been validated by its comparison with finite-element analyses on simplified cases. Then, it was used to improve the optimal design of the HTS tape on the basis of analysis of different wires used in industry. According to the analysis, some recommendations on the optimal architecture reducing the stresses in the superconductive layer, have been given.

A Systematic Classification Investigation of Rapid Intensification of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones with the SHIPS Database

AbstractIn hopes of better understanding the rapid intensification (RI) of tropical cyclones, the classification technique as a data mining process is used in this mining experiment. The mining results are expected to increase accurate forecasting abilities for RI through exhaustive data distillation. In this work, the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS) database for the Atlantic basin during the period 1982–2009 is used as the data source and the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) software is used for various classifier implementations. As in most classification applications, accuracies in model building with training data may be high. However, accuracies with testing data usually deteriorate. Various special steps are carried out in an effort to improve the accuracy. These steps include setting the cost parameters for overcoming the unbalanced RI samples, temporal averages of variable values for more accurate environmental estimation, feature filtering for irrelevant feature removal, and subset feature selections. The best performance measures of the training results are above 90% for probability of detection (POD) with 10%–20% false alarm ratios (FARs) for cases of RI within 24 h. However, the performance on the testing data is not as good. The reported RI forecasting accuracies in this work are lower than the goals set by NOAA in their Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project. Nevertheless, this work sheds light on the future direction of RI investigations using data mining techniques. Many more studies are needed before we can fully understand the potential and/or limitations of data mining techniques in RI investigations.

DIAGNOSIS KESULITAN MAHASISWA DI UNIVERSITAS KUNINGAN DALAM PEMBUKTIAN MENGGUNAKAN INDUKSI MATEMATIKA BESERTA UPAYA MENGATASINYA MENGGUNAKAN SCAFFOLDING

This study was conducted to describe the difficulties of students in the proof using mathematical induction as well as efforts to resolve it using the Scaffolding. Scaffolding is providing assistance given by teachers or peers who are more capable to students so that they can reach their potential level. This study uses a qualitative research design types of case studies, where data is obtained in the form of observations sheet test and an interview with the subject. The subject is based on the results of diagnostic tests that are classified according to type of error is then taken of each group of students as subjects. Based on the research, found the location of the difficulties experienced by students in the proof of proposition using mathematical induction, namely the difficulty in manipulating algebra to show the truth of Pk + 1. Of these difficulties, students are given the scaffolding in accordance with the difficulties faced by each student. Depth scaffolding scaffolding provided is a second level that is explaining, reviewing and restructuring and third tiers of scaffolding that is developing conceptual thinking. The advice given by researchers is the teacher must give emphasis or affirmation special steps to make assumptions and define a form Pk + 1, the student must master the other concepts that relate to a given problem, so as to make the connection between Pk and Pk +1, and similar studies should be conducted with more depth on other types of problems, such as conjecture. Keywords: Diagnosis difficulty, Mathematical Induction, Scaffolding

Improved VIIRS and MODIS SST Imagery

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) radiometers, flown onboard Terra/Aqua and Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP)/Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites, are capable of providing superior sea surface temperature (SST) imagery. However, the swath data of these multi-detector sensors are subject to several artifacts including bow-tie distortions and striping, and require special pre-processing steps. VIIRS additionally does two irreversible data reduction steps onboard: pixel aggregation (to reduce resolution changes across the swath) and pixel deletion, which complicate both bow-tie correction and destriping. While destriping was addressed elsewhere, this paper describes an algorithm, adopted in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Oceans (ACSPO) SST system, to minimize the bow-tie artifacts in the SST imagery and facilitate application of the pattern recognition algorithms for improved separation of ocean from cloud and mapping fine SST structure, especially in the dynamic, coastal and high-latitude regions of the ocean. The algorithm is based on a computationally fast re-sampling procedure that ensures a continuity of corresponding latitude and longitude arrays. Potentially, Level 1.5 products may be generated to benefit a wide range of MODIS and VIIRS users in land, ocean, cryosphere, and atmosphere remote sensing.

Novel scintillation detector design and performance for proton radiography and computed tomography

Proton computed tomography (pCT) will enable accurate prediction of proton and ion range in a patient while providing the benefit of lower radiation exposure than in x-ray CT. The accuracy of the range prediction is essential for treatment planning in proton or ion therapy and depends upon the detector used to evaluate the water-equivalent path length (WEPL) of a proton passing through the object. A novel approach is presented for an inexpensive WEPL detector for pCT and proton radiography. A novel multistage detector with an aperture of 10 × 37.5 cm was designed to optimize the accuracy of the WEPL measurements while simplifying detector construction and the performance requirements of its components. The design of the five-stage detector was optimized through simulations based on the geant4 detector simulation toolkit, and the fabricated prototype was calibrated in water-equivalent millimeters with 200 MeV protons in the research beam line of the clinical proton synchrotron at Loma Linda University Medical Center. A special polystyrene step phantom was designed and built to speed up and simplify the calibration procedure. The calibrated five-stage detector was tested in the 200 MeV proton beam as part of the pCT head scanner, using a water phantom and polystyrene slabs to verify the WEPL reconstruction accuracy. The beam-test results demonstrated excellent performance of the new detector, in good agreement with the simulation results. The WEPL measurement accuracy is about 3.0 mm per proton in the 0-260 mm WEPL range required for a pCT head scan with a 200 MeV proton beam. The new multistage design approach to WEPL measurements for proton CT and radiography has been prototyped and tested. The test results show that the design is competitive with much more expensive calorimeter and range-counter designs.

Epidemiology, Driving Factors, Transmission and Control Options of Zika Virus: A Review

Now days, the threats of infectious diseases particularly that emerges and or re-emerges is increasing. The main sources of emerging and re-emerging diseases originated from both wild and domestic animals. From few years onwards, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, Rift Valley fever, Influenza, Ebola, and so like, become the risks of the world. This paper deals about the recently re-merged diseases known as Zika fever. This disease is caused by a virus known as flavivirus and carried from one individual to another through a mosquito called Aedes causes this disease. The viral epidemiology covers the Americans, Africa, Asia and the pacific. Though not all the reservoir hosts are clearly identified, authors in general agreed the primates are the main reservoirs. Researchers tried to identify the driving factors of Zika virus infection as climatic condition, presence of vectors, the environmental ecology, travelling histories, urbanization and so like. Individual persons infected by Zika virus will show symptoms such as mild fever, rashes on the skin, inflammation of conjunctiva, pain on the muscle and joint, headache. The symptoms may normally stay from the minimum day 2 to twelve days. Currently the disease has no treatment and viral prevention; only it relies on the protection of the mosquito bite. Special precaution steps should be taken in cases of pregnant women and who intend to recently pregnant.

A conventional procedure to reduce Asn deamidation artifacts during trypsin peptide mapping.

Asn deamidation is a common post-translational modification of proteins with significant biological consequences. Asn deamidation can cause changes in structure, stability and function of proteins. LC-MS peptide mapping is the most widely used method to detect and quantify Asn deamidation. However, a significant amount of deamidation can occur during sample preparation for peptide mapping, making it challenging to accurately determine the original level of deamidation. Although several protocols to reduce procedure-induced deamidation have been reported, they either require special procedural steps or are not optimal for maintaining trypsin activity. In the current study, several commonly used buffers that are optimal for trypsin activity were evaluated. The results demonstrated that much lower levels of Asn deamidation artifacts were observed when Tris buffer was used, especially at lower concentrations. The addition of 10% acetonitrile further reduced the levels of Asn deamidation artifacts. The utility of the optimized procedure was demonstrated by the digestion of a recombinant monoclonal antibody. The proposed procedure can be readily applied to any laboratory settings as it does not require any special reagents or procedures.

The preparation of pH-sensitive Pd catalyst ink for selective electroless deposition of copper on a flexible PET substrate

We report on the preparation of a pH-sensitive styrene (St)-co-N, N-dimethyl-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)/Pd ink for fabrication of copper pattern on a flexible PET substrate. The St-co-DMAEMA oligomers are synthesized via free radical polymerization using potassium persulfate as the initiator. The synthesized St-co-DMAEMA copolymer is utilized to self-reduce Pd nanoparticles. The pH-sensitive DMAEMA segments function as stabilizing agent for noble metal nanoparticles in acidic ink solution. On the other hand, ink-jet printing St-co-DMAEMA oligomers become hydrophobic during the electroless plating of copper with a basic bath. Therefore, a copper film with dramatically enhanced adhesion is formed on the PET surface without special pretreatment step before electroless deposition of copper film. This process yields Cu conductor formed by plating for 15 min on PET substrate with resistance 2.5 times that of bulk copper. The cyclic bending test results show that electrical resistance increases only slightly after 1000 cycles and is remained low enough for use in practical applications.

High Prevalence of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Respiratory Bacterial Pathogens in a Nepalese University Hospital: A Vexatious Problem

BACKGROUND: Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria have resulted in vexatious problem to combat lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). However, no detailed studies have been done in Nepal exploring the status of such pathogens from LRTI. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the current levels of antimicrobial resistance with special reference to ESBL-producing respiratory bacterial pathogens in Nepal.METHODS: A prospective study was conducted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in the capital city of Nepal. Specimens representing lower respiratory tract were received from 1120 patients suspected of LRTI. The specimens were collected and processed according to standard methodology. Combination disk (CD) and disk synergy test (DST) methods were used for the detection of ESBL-producing isolates.RESULTS: Of the total 314 isolates belonging to Enterobacteriaceae and nonfermentative bacteria, 24.2% were ESBL-producers which included 42.2% of Klebsiella pneumoniae, 8.8% of Pseudomonas species, 41.9% of Escherichia coli, 12.9% of Acinetobacter species, 13.3% of Citrobacter species and 66.7% of Morganella morganii. ESBL-producers were more common among hospitalized patients. For ESBL-producers, the most effective drug was found to be imipenem, meropenem, followed by cefoperazone-sulbactam and amikacin.CONCLUSIONS: One-fourth of the isolates belonging to Enterobacteriaceae and non-fermentative bacteria were ESBL-producer. It is quite essential to have effective antimicrobial and infection control policy in the hospital and special steps should be taken to prevent clonal dissemination of the resistant strains. Further studies should be done in other hospitals of Nepal to know the phenotype and genotype of ESBL-producing isolates prevailing in our country.

Intense rockburst impacts in deep underground construction and their prevention

In the last few decades, in both mining and civil engineering projects, deeper excavations have been carried out than in the past. With this increase in depth, rocks may overstress and rock failures can occur during excavation. When competent rock strata are encountered under high stress conditions, these failures can vary from superficial spalling to explosive rockburst. Intense rockbursts may cause fatal injuries to workers and significant loss of equipment and time. The occurrence of rockbursts is always difficult to predict and special steps and measures must be taken to control them. First, burst-prone zones must be predicted by an early exhaustive geological study and by the assessment of in situ stress level and orientation. Second, basic design parameters, e.g., shape, size, and excavation method, should be modified and adapted to the expected conditions to minimize rockburst risk. Third, in situ pre-conditioning methods, e.g., destress blasting, can be applied to decrease the capacity of the rock mass to store energy. Finally, special rock support and reinforcement systems, i.e., yielding systems, must be installed after excavation to ensure total stability of the opening. This paper reviews the geological and geomechanical factors that provoke and influence rockbursts in overstressed rock masses and the engineering measures taken to control them.

Synthesis and characterization of γ-ferric oxide nanoparticles and their effect on Solanum lycopersicum.

γ-Ferric oxide nanoparticles are synthesized through modern and facile ayurvedic route followed by normal and special purification steps, which are both cost-effective and eco-friendly. These synthesized γ-ferric oxide nanoparticles were applied on Solanum lycopersicum to search the effect on chlorophyll content. This process involves multiple filtration and calcination steps. The synthesized samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and particle size analysis (PSA) to identify the purification step's influence on the structural, optical, morphological, magnetic, and particle size properties of ferric oxide nanoparticles (γ-phase). X-ray diffraction has revealed that ferric oxide nanoparticles have rhombohedral structure of α-phase (hematite) in initial purification process later transformed into cubic structure γ-phase (maghemite). UV-vis spectroscopy analysis has clearly shown that by repetitive purification steps, λmax has increased from 230 to 340nm. TEM result has an intercorrelation with XRD results. γ-Ferric oxide nanoparticles were tested on Solanum lycopersicum (tomato seeds). The changes in the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total carotene were studied using spectral measurements at two different dosages-0.5 and 2M. As a result, at 0.5-M concentration, magnetic nanoparticles exhibit fruitful results by increasing the crop yield and being more resistant to chlorosis.

A Tat ménage à trois — The role of Bacillus subtilis TatAc in twin-arginine protein translocation

The twin-arginine translocation system (Tat) is a protein transport system that moves fully folded and cofactor-containing proteins across membranes of bacteria, archaea and thylakoids. The minimal Tat pathway is composed of two subunits, TatA and TatC. In some organisms TatA has been duplicated and evolved to form a third specialized subunit, TatB. The Bacillus subtilis genome encodes two TatC subunits (TatCd and TatCy) and three TatA subunits (TatAd, TatAy and TatAc). These subunits combine to form two parallel minimal pathways, TatAy-TatCy and TatAd-TatCd. The purpose and role of the third TatA component, TatAc, has remained ambiguous. In this study we examined the translocation of two natively expressed TatAy-TatCy-dependent substrates, EfeB and QcrA, in various Tat-deficient genetic backgrounds. More specifically, we examined the ability of different mutated TatAy subunits to complement for the absence of wild-type TatAy. We further detailed a graded growth phenotype associated with the functional translocation of EfeB. We found that in various instances where specific amino acid substitutions were made in TatAy, a definite TatAc-associated growth phenotype occurred in genetic backgrounds lacking TatAc. Altogether, our findings show that TatAy and TatAc interact and that this TatAy–TatAc interaction, although not essential, supports the translocation of the Tat substrate EfeB when TatAy function is compromised. This implies that the third TatA-like protein in B. subtilis could represent an intermediate evolutionary step in TatA-TatB specialization.

Exploring mass variations in the Earth system

Geophysical processes cause a redistribution of masses within system Earth called mass transport. This mass transport induces variations in the observed gravity field of the Earth. A common scientific approach to draw conclusions about geophysical processes is to determine the imprint of individual geophysical processes in observed gravity field variations. For this purpose, modelers follow a sequence of specialized steps. From this sequence, we identified in close collaboration with Earth system modelers at the German Research Center for GeoSciences (GFZ) steps that can significantly benefit from Visual Analytics: (a) finding an applicable release of observed gravity field variations that exhibit the geophysical process of interest (b) separating individual geophysical processes in observed gravity field variations and (c) confirming the reduction of observed gravity field variations to the geophysical process of interest.We identified important analytical requirements for our Visual Analytics approach based on a user- and task-centered design. By providing tailored support for the identified requirements, our Visual Analytics approach provides a valuable expansion of the modeler’s toolbox.

Self-Aligned Fin-On-Oxide (FOO) FinFETs for Improved SCE Immunity and Multi-VTH Operation on Si Substrate

The paper proposed a simple and novel approach to fabricate Fin-On-Oxide (FOO) FinFETs on silicon (Si) substrates for improved electrical characteristics in scaled devices. Based on conventional bulk-Si FinFET integration flow, a special step of a fin notch etching is performed, followed by a process of liner oxidation and isolation-oxide filling and recess. The fin above the notch is physically isolated from the substrate and turns into a self-aligned FOO structure. The fabricated p-type FOO FinFETs have demonstrated excellent short-channel effect (SCE) characteristics with subthreshold slope (SS) of 69 mV/dec and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) of 22 mV/V for a physical gate length (LG) of 27 nm. For 14 nm devices, SS of 86 mV/dec and DIBL of 106 mV/V have been achieved, which are much better than those of the bulk-silicon FinFET counterpart with similar process. Meanwhile, the steady threshold voltage (VTH) shifting by the substrate biasing is realized in the FOO FinFET without performance degradations. The linearity of the VTH on the bias voltage is −6 mV/V. The self-aligned FOO-FinFET with a simple process provides a promising method to improve the SCE immunity as well as provides the multi-VTH operation for the scaled FinFET on Si substrates for future ultra-low power circuit applications. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0071504ssl] All rights reserved.

A Multi Criteria Decision Analysis for Reinvestment Action Portfolio Selection Problem in an Indonesian Real Estate Company

As part of their corporate strategic action, PT X has divested one of their hotel business in Bali, they planned to invest the cash generated to several real estate development projects in Indonesia. This research expect to formulate a decision model that can be applied to this type of project selection problem. The project selection process might involve several criteria such as financial performance, market potential, risk level, and social benefit, making it suitable to apply the multi-criteria decision analysis approach in order to construct an outranking relations among alternatives under consideration. The selection process also under an uncertainty of future events, which require special step to let the decision model absorb it. Therefore, the Monte Carlo simulation is conducted after the financial modelling on each alternatives to address the uncertainty factors. The final portfolio selection process is done via Integer Programming and completed with the sensitivity analysis to see the behavior of the final decision when some parameters are changed. This approach gives the decision maker a sound decision making model that can be useful for them in selecting the projects to be included in their real estate portfolio. The research found out that using the multi criteria method in the selection process has a different outcome compared to using only the financial values as the selection criteria. However, the financial criteria are still found to be the more important criteria. Overall, the model built in this research has been successfully implemented in the decision making process in PT. X. The decision model will also suitable to be applied for manufacturing industry that frequently encounter project selection problem.

Audiovisual Translation: Conception, Types, Characters’ Speech and Translation Strategies Applied

The article presents the conception of audiovisual translation and its main characteristics, describes its types and steps of performance, as well as translation strategies applied and constraints caused by technical and linguistic peculiarities of audiovisual products which translators face while translating. Films, animated films and series have become an integral part of an average person’s life. All of them have different functions and are targeted at different groups of people but all of them are united by the type of translation performed. Audiovisual translation is one of the youngest fields of Translation theory and studies, the investigation of which is aimed at improving the results of translators’ activity to meet the expectations of recipients. In contrast to other types of translations, it possesses specific characteristics which require special steps of its performance and translation strategies which can be used. Its main characteristic is synchronization of verbal and nonverbal components which make translators works not only with texts but other aspects of the media art. Translation strategies are viewed not in the situational context but in wider global meaning comprising an audiovisual product as a whole. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.25.8516

Supercapacitor electrodes by direct growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on Al: a study of performance versus layer growth evolution

Supercapacitor electrodes were fabricated by direct growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on Al current collectors via a chemical vapor deposition process in the presence of a spin-coated Co-Mo catalyst. A detailed study of the dependence of the CNT layer structure and thickness on growth time set the basis for the assessment of supercapacitors assembled with the CNTs/Al electrodes. As the main features of the layer growth evolution, an increase in the population of finer CNTs and a shift from a random entanglement to a rough vertical alignment of nanotubes were noted with proceeding growth. The growth time influence on the performance of supercapacitors was in fact apparent. Particularly, the specific capacitance of CNTs/Al electrodes in 0.5MK2SO4 aqueous electrolyte increased from 35 to 80Fg−1 as the CNT layer thickness varied from 20 to 60μm, with a concurrent loss in rate capability (knee frequency from 1kHz to 60Hz). The latter was excellent in general, arguably due to both a fast ion transport through the interconnected CNT network and a negligible contribution of the active layer/current collector contact to the equivalent series resistance (0.15–0.22mΩg), a distinct advantage of the direct growth fabrication method. Overall, a relatively simple process of direct growth of CNTs on Al foils is shown to be an effective method to fabricate supercapacitor electrodes, notably in the absence of special measures and processing steps finalized to a tight control of nanotubes growth and organization.

High resolution SEM imaging of gold nanoparticles in cells and tissues.

The growing demand of gold nanoparticles in medical applications increases the need for simple and efficient characterization methods of the interaction between the nanoparticles and biological systems. Due to its nanometre resolution, modern scanning electron microscopy (SEM) offers straightforward visualization of metallic nanoparticles down to a few nanometre size, almost without any special preparation step. However, visualization of biological materials in SEM requires complicated preparation procedure, which is typically finished by metal coating needed to decrease charging artefacts and quick radiation damage of biomaterials in the course of SEM imaging. The finest conductive metal coating available is usually composed of a few nanometre size clusters, which are almost identical to the metal nanoparticles employed in medical applications. Therefore, SEM monitoring of metal nanoparticles within cells and tissues is incompatible with the conventional preparation methods. In this work, we show that charging artefacts related to non-conductive biological specimen can be successfully eliminated by placing the uncoated biological sample on a conductive substrate. By growing the cells on glass pre-coated with a chromium layer, we were able to observe the uptake of 10nm gold nanoparticles inside uncoated and unstained macrophages and keratinocytes cells. Imaging in back scattered electrons allowed observation of gold nanoparticles located inside the cells, while imaging in secondary electron gave information on gold nanoparticles located on the surface of the cells. By mounting a skin cross-section on an improved conductive holder, consisting of a silicon substrate coated with copper, we were able to observe penetration of gold nanoparticles of only 5nm size through the skin barrier in an uncoated skin tissue. The described method offers a convenient modification in preparation procedure for biological samples to be analyzed in SEM. The method provides high conductivity without application of surface coating and requires less time and a reduced use of toxic chemicals.