Technique for Restoration of Mite (Acari) Preparations in Deteriorated Hoyer’s Medium

Jacinavicius, Fernando de Castro; Badari, Juliana Cuoco; Ramírez, Diego García; Moraes, Roberto Henrique Pinto; Onofrio, Valéria Castilho; Barros‐Battesti, Darci Moraes

doi:10.1007/s13744-013-0129-1

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…(1): (a) Add thymol crystals to prevent growth of bacteria and fungi for immersion time of more than 2 days, (b) a neutral detergent may be added to the water (Jacinavicius et al 2013), (2) (2): Slide must not be submerged in solvent while coverslip is removed in order to avoid loss of specimen in large solvent-filled Petri dish, (3): if old mounting medium does not dissolve sufficiently but allows removal of coverslip, scratch away old medium far from specimen with scalpel and cover specimen and remnants of old medium with fresh medium, which does not appear too liquid, (E) Technique for mounting (steps 1, 2, 6−10) and re-mounting (steps 1−10) reversible slides (1) Hotplate 60−65°C: melt paraffin for histological mounting in small Petri dish, (2) dip metal cylinder (Ø about 12 mm, thin wall) into molten paraffin and subsequently on square coverslip (24 mm x 24 mm)/ glass slide on hotplate, remove glass slide/ coverslip from hotplate and let cool (Fig. 27B), (3) ambient temperature for steps 3−6: hold slide/ basal coverslip, carefully lift top coverslip with scalpel and flip it over so that the side with the glycerol is on top, (4) stereo microscope for all following steps: check whether specimen remains on slide/ basal coverslip or on top coverslip, (5) add small drop of glycerol on specimen and remove specimen with Irwin-loop, (6) place specimen in tiny drop of glycerol on new square coverslip (24 mm x 24 mm) with ring of paraffin ( Fig.…”

Section: Restoration Of Broken Glass Slidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In case of the necessity to restore a microscope slide or just its label and before further measures are taken, the slide should be photographed in order to document all label information (Garner & Horie 1984;Jacinavicius et al 2013), and the catalogue number should be inscribed with a diamond-tipped or tungsten carbide-tipped engraving scribe. In contrast to Wilson (1971), an old label should not be disposed of but either be re-attached to the slide or be stored separately (see chapter 3.9.5 Storage of old labels).…”

Section: Restoration Of Slides-labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specimen and coverslip "should not be helped out" of the mounting medium, because the risk of breaking off parts of the animal is too high, so patience over a couple of days is necessary until they float free (Brown & Boise 2005Woessner 2005;Jacinavicius et al 2013). Pritchard & Kruse (1982 and Moore (1996) suggested flicking the coverslip off of a deteriorating mount after deep-freezing.…”

Section: Problems With Mounting Medium-general Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the most problematic media include Aquatex®, polyvinyl lactophenol, Fluoromount G™, gum-chloral based media like Berlese's, Faure's, and Hoyer's mounting medium, and Permount™ (Tab. 7;Hooper 1970;Upton 1993;Koomen & Vaupel Klein 1995;Amrine & Manson 1996;Brown 1997;Lillo et al 2010;Jacinavicius et al 2013;Neuhaus , 2017Neuhaus & Sørensen 2013;Neuhaus et al 2014;Neuhaus & Kegel 2015). The serious problems with the above-mentioned mounting media have been widely ignored for decades (references in Tabs 6, 7; for summary about gum-chloral media see Upton 1993), and these media are still recommended with sometimes bizarre arguments (Tab.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a few cases, specimens have been re-mounted as glycerolparaffin slides (Neuhaus & Kegel 2015;Neuhaus 2017). Procedures for re-mounting slides are scarce and offer different solutions for different taxa and different types of slides (Moore 1979;Fain 1980;Garner & Horie 1984;Brunner & Blueford 1986;Brown & Boise 2005Gunter & Brown 2005;Woessner 2005; Allington-Jones 2008;Jacinavicius et al 2013;Valentine-Baars & Kerbey 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Collection management and study of microscope slides: Storage, profiling, deterioration, restoration procedures, and general recommendations

Neuhaus

Schmid

Riedel

2017

Zootaxa

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A wide range of aspects concerning microscope slides, their preparation, long-time storage, curatorial measures in collections, deterioration, restoration, and study is summarized based on our own data and by analyzing more than 600 references from the 19th century until 2016, 15 patents, and about 100 Materials Safety Data Sheets. Information from systematic zoology, conservation sciences, chemistry, forensic sciences, pathology, paleopathology, applied sciences like food industry, and most recent advances in digital imaging are put together in order to obtain a better understanding of which and possibly why mounting media and coverslip seals deteriorate, how slides can be salvaged, which studies may be necessary to identify a range of ideal mounting media, and how microscope studies can benefit from improvements in developmental biology and related fields. We also elaborate on confusing usage of concepts like that of maceration and of clearing. The chemical ingredients of a range of mounting media and coverslip seals are identified as much as possible from published data, but this information suffers in so far as the composition of a medium is often proprietary of the manufacturer and may vary over time. Advantages, disadvantages, and signs of deterioration are documented extensively for these media both from references and from our own observations. It turns out that many media degrade within a few years, or decades at the latest, except Canada balsam with a documented life-time of 150 years, Euparal with a documented life-time of 50 years, and glycerol-paraffin mounts sealed with Glyceel, which represents almost the only non-deteriorating and easily reversible mount. Deterioration reveals itself as a yellowing in natural resins and as cracking, crystallization, shrinkage on drying or possibly on loss of a plasticizer, detachment of the coverslip, segregation of the ingredients in synthetic polymers, as well as continued maceration of a specimen to a degree that the specimen virtually disappears. Confusingly, decay does not always appear equally within a collection of slides mounted at the same time in the same medium. The reasons for the deteriorative processes have been discussed but are controversial especially for gum-chloral media. Comparing data from conservation sciences, chemical handbooks, and documented ingredients, we discuss here how far chemical and physical deterioration probably are inherent to many media and are caused by the chemical and physical properties of their components and by chemicals dragged along from previous preparation steps like fixation, chemical maceration, and physical clearing. Some recipes even contain a macerating agent, which proceeds with its destructive work. We provide permeability data for oxygen and water vapor of several polymers contained in mounting media and coverslip seals. Calculation of the penetration rate of moisture in one example reveals that water molecules reach a specimen within a few days up to about a month; this lays to rest extensive discussions about the permanent protection of a mounted specimen by a mounting medium and a coverslip seal. Based on the ever growing evidence of the unsuitable composition and application of many, and possibly almost all, mounting media, we strongly encourage changing the perspective on microscope slides from immediate usability and convenience of preparation towards durability and reversibility, concepts taken from conservation sciences. Such a change has already been suggested by Upton (1993) more than 20 years ago for gum-chloral media, but these media are still encouraged nowadays by scientists. Without a new perspective, taxonomic biology will certainly lose a large amount of its specimen basis for its research within the next few decades. Modern non-invasive techniques like Raman spectroscopy may help to identify mounting media and coverslip seals on a given slide as well as to understand ageing of the media. An outlook is given on potential future studies. In order to improve the situation of existing collections of microscope slides, we transfer concepts as per the Smithsonian Collections Standards and Profiling System, developed for insect collections more than 25 years ago, to collections of slides. We describe historical and current properties and usage of glass slides, coverslips, labels, and adhesives under conservational aspects. In addition, we summarize and argue from published and our own experimental information about restorative procedures, including re-hydration of dried-up specimens previously mounted in a fluid medium. Alternatives to microscope slides are considered. We also extract practical suggestions from the literature concerning microscope equipment, cleaning of optical surfaces, health risks of immersion oil, and recent improvements of temporary observation media especially in connection with new developments in digital software.

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Section: Restoration Of Broken Glass Slidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Restoration Of Slides-labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%