The Intoxicant as Preservative and Scientific Instrument in the World of James Petiver

This article examines the emergent use of alcohol as a preservation medium for scientific specimens from the mid-seventeenth century in Britain. Taking the work of the London apothecary James Petiver (1660–1718) as its focus, the article explores the ways in which alcohol was used to fix and remediate the specimen, shown ‘lifelike’ in glass, in displays or in engravings. Petiver actively promoted the use of pickling spirits, publishing instructions on how to preserve specimens and distributing these to his collecting agents in the Indies trade. The article introduces the early history of preservation in alcohol in England, and particularly the work of Robert Boyle in promoting the wet collection. It then follows Petiver's agent, Richard Bradley, on his 1711 visit to Leiden and Amsterdam, examining the role of alcohol alongside other means of preserving and activating the scientific collection.

Evaluation of equine (Equus cabbalus) corneal endothelium stored in EUSOL-C® preservation medium

The objective of this study was evaluate the maintenance of the corneal endothelium of horses in cold EUSOL-C® preservation medium over different periods (seven and 14 days) using scanning electron microscopy. A total of 20 pairs of eyes from horses were analysed. The corneas were divided into four groups of 10 corneas each (G1, G2, G3 and G4): G1 - the samples were kept in the preservation medium for seven days; G3 - the samples were kept in the preservation medium for for 14 days; G2 and G4 were formed by the control corneal buttons of G1 and G3, respectively. The average cell loss observed in G1 was 7.62%, in G2 it was 7.04%, in G3 9.12% and in G4 7.16%. No statistically significant differences were observed between the four groups. It was concluded that the Eusol-C® hypothermic preservation medium provided satisfactory preservation of the corneal endothelium in equine species for up to 14 days.

Synopsis of rare fossil animal spermatozoa in amber and sedimentary deposits

Fossil spermatozoa are extremely rare. Among the eight cases reported here, including two cases of spermatophores without visible sperm cells, six are fossils preserved in amber. All six concern animals with indirect sperm transfer by means of spermatophores or spermatodesmids. Preservation of subcellular organelles shows once again that amber is an extraordinary preservation medium.

Experimental Design: Javanese Folktale Preservation Using Augmented Reality Technology

This research was conducted to discover innovative and interesting methods to preserve also to reintroduce Javanese folktale to today’s society. The data were gathered from primary research through quantitative research to 104 respondents to know about folktale and opinion of modern preservation medium such as augmented reality medium, and also qualitative research through an in-depth interview to enrich the researcher’s fashion knowledge about printed technic and fabrics. Besides primary research, the researchers also conducted secondary research through various sources such as websites, e-articles, survey, and interview. The result of this research is an interactive scarf as a collaboration of fashion accessory as a physical medium and augmented reality technology to enhance its interactive experience. Based on the survey held, the most favorite fashion accessory among woman from the age of 18 until 30 years old is a scarf. Most women will have a scarf inside their bag, just in case they need it. By making an illustration of Javanese folktale on a scarf, it will hopefully attract the target market to retrace their memory and raise people’s awareness about Javanese folktale that seems to be forgotten in today’s era. The usage of augmented reality feature in this research is to give further information such as videos, images, or texts towards the illustration of the scarf by scanning the pattern by using the user’s smartphone.

Konsentrasi Sukrosa Dan Agar Di Dalam Media Pelestarian In-Vitro Ubi Jalar Var. Sukuh

The objective of this research was to obtain suitable concentration of sucrose and agar in the sweet potato (Ipomea batatas (L) Lam) in vitro preservation medium, in order to make plant grow slowly and healthy. Experiment was done in Molecular Biologi Laboratory of PAU IPB. The experiment was arranged in factorial complete random design, using sweet potato var. Sukuh in order to know the effect of sucrose (40,50,60,70 and 80 g l-1) and agar (7 and 8 g l-1) which were added 1 g l-1 hyponex fertilizer 20-20-20. The experiment was replicated four times. Data were analyzed parametrically and non-parametrically. The result of these experiments showed the suitable conservation media was 1 g l-1 hyponex 20-20-20 + 60 g l-1sucrose + 7 g l-1 agar. Threfore, the media composition MS could produce high green inter nodes number, high root number and more than two green leaf number. This experiment also showed that MS media could be replaced by a cheaper and easily found conservation medium.

Evaluation of Copan FecalSwab as Specimen Type for Use in Xpert C. difficile Assay

ABSTRACT Liquid-based microbiology (LBM) devices incorporating flocked swabs and preservation medium ease transport of specimens and improve specimen yield compared to traditional fiber wound swabs; however, the performance of LBM collection devices has not been evaluated in many molecular assays. It is unclear how the differences in matrix and specimen loading with an LBM device will affect test performance compared to traditional collection devices. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of specimens collected in FecalSwab transport medium (Copan Diagnostics, Murrieta, CA) compared to unpreserved stool using the Cepheid Xpert C. difficile assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA). Results equivalent to unpreserved stool samples were obtained when 400 μl of FecalSwab-preserved stool was employed in the Xpert assay. The positive and negative percent agreement of specimens inoculated with FecalSwab medium ( n = 281) was 97.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 90.9 to 96.4%) and 99.4% (95% CI, 96.4 to 99.9%), respectively, compared to reference results obtained using unpreserved stool. Throughout this study, only four discrepant results occurred when comparing preserved specimens to unpreserved stool specimens in the Xpert C. difficile PCR assay. Post discrepant analysis, using the BD MAX Cdiff assay, the specificity and sensitivity both increased to 100%. The high positive and negative percent agreements observed in this study suggest that stool preserved in FecalSwab media yields equivalent results to using unpreserved stool when tested on the Xpert C. difficile assay, allowing laboratories to adopt this liquid-based microbiology collection device.