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Sarah,
Fair enough. I hadn't realized that there was anything in
nail polish that caused fading. Its a good point. I was not trying to
advocate for using the stuff, just explaining why we do. Maybe we
will even try w/o?? Once in a while somethingwe want to see is under
the polish.
Tobias
>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
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>
>OK, but why not just use a straight glycerol-based mounting medium?
>Then you wouldn't have any significant evaporation and you don't have to
>add the unknown of nail polish. If it works for you, great, but there
>have been lengthy discussions in the past about what component in nail
>polish causes fading- if you leave it out completely, it's not an issue.
>Why add a bunch of variables when you don't need to? I should add that
>we occasionally go back to fixed samples over a year old and they look
>similar to the newly prepared ones, just dimmer. I suggest just trying
>a few without nail polish and seeing how long they hold up (or maybe
>someone on this list has already done this and can make a comment)
>Sarah
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of Tobias Baskin
>Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 2:39 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Substitute to Nail Polish
>
>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
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>
>Sarah,
> I'll take a stab at answering you. Note -- I have no stock in
>the nail polish companies! We store our slides for more than a year
>and often go back. The images are not quite as crispy as original but
>are servicable. We use a water gycerol mixture so there is some
>evaporation, and oxygen may diffuse in. But in any case, we absorb
>excess mountant and the nail polish sets up in moments (although we
>always wait 30 to 60 min before going near a microscope) so I can't
>see how it could cause trouble. And the colors are so pretty (just
>kidding about the last).
>
> Anyway, that is why we use nail polish.
>
> Tobias
>
>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>>I have yet to figure out why someone would use nail polish on their
>>slides. We mostly use inverted scopes and only have problems if the
>>coverlips are small (15mm or less diameter) and too much mounting
>>medium is used- they tend to be dragged around by the surface
>>tension between the immersion oil and the coverslip. It's easily
>>solved by using a Kimwipe to remove the excess mounting medium.
>>Samples are stored flat in a fridge for several months. The vapor
>>pressure of glycerol is EXTREMELY low so evaporation is not an issue
>>at all. The only thing you might have to worry about is fading, but
>>we rarely look at them after more than a month or two. It seems
>>like adding nail polish with all the solvents, polymers, colors, etc
>>in it is just asking for trouble (see all the postings on this in
>>the archives). Just because "we've always done it" doesn't make it
>>a good idea.
>>Sarah
>>
>>
>>From: Confocal Microscopy List
>>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Walters,
>>Katherine S
>>Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 1:21 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Substitute to Nail Polish
>>
>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
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>
>--
> _ ____ __ ____
> / \ / / \ / \ \ Tobias I. Baskin
> / / / / \ \ \ Biology Department
> /_ / __ /__ \ \ \__ 611 N. Pleasant St.
> / / / \ \ \ University of
>Massachusetts
> / / / \ \ \ Amherst, MA, 01003
>/ / ___ / \ \__/ \ ____
>http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/baskin/
>Voice: 413 - 545 - 1533 Fax: 413 - 545 - 3243
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