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Fixation and Sectioning

Fixation and Sectioning

Two basic types of preparation are used to visualize specimens with a light microscope: wet mounts and fixed specimens.
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...

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To be visualized by an electron microscope, either transmission or scanning, biological samples need to be fixed (stabilized) so the electron beam does not destroy them and dried thoroughly (desiccated/dehydrated) so the vacuum does not affect them. Fixation needs to be done as quickly as possible because the sample properties will start changing as soon as it is removed from its natural environment. For example, in a tissue sample, the oxygen levels begin decreasing, causing an altered...

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Disentangling High Strength Copolymer Aramid Fibers to Enable the Determination of Their Mechanical Properties

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Identifying a suitable mounting medium for use in forensic fibre examination.

K Wiggins¹, P Drummond

¹Forensic Science Service, 109 Lambeth Road, London SE1 7LP, England.

Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society

|June 25, 2008

Summary

XAM neutral medium, a textile fiber examination tool, is unavailable due to European regulations. Entellan New is identified as a suitable replacement, performing similarly to XAM.

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Area of Science:

Textile science
Materials science
Forensic science

Background:

XAM neutral medium was a widely used mounting medium for textile fiber examination for over two decades.
European Directive 98/79/EC has led to the discontinuation of XAM.
A replacement mounting medium is required for consistent textile fiber analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify a suitable alternative to XAM neutral medium for textile fiber examination.
To evaluate potential mounting media based on a defined set of desirable properties.

Main Methods:

A list of essential properties for a textile fiber mounting medium was established.
Several mounting media were tested and compared against these criteria.
Performance of candidate media was assessed in comparison to the original XAM medium.

Main Results:

Entellan New emerged as the most effective alternative mounting medium.
Entellan New demonstrated performance comparable to XAM across all evaluated aspects.
The study confirmed Entellan New's suitability for textile fiber examination.

Conclusions:

Entellan New is recommended as the optimal replacement for XAM neutral medium.
Laboratories previously using XAM can transition to Entellan New for reliable textile fiber analysis.
The findings ensure continuity in textile fiber examination techniques.