Two courses which might be of interest to Australian members - please
excuse the short notice.  Get in touch as soon as possible if you are
interested.

Fee for each course (to those outside the University of Sydney) is $550 Aust.

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1. Advanced Biological Specimen Preparation for Optical Microscopy

Are you getting the best results out of your light microscope preparations?

The development of confocal laser scanning microscopy has resulted in a
resurgence of interests in light microscopical techniques which in turn
resulted in significant advances in biological specimen preparation for the
optical microscope.  Yet, many specimens are still poorly prepared,
inevitably leading to unreliable results.

The Australian Key Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis and the Electron
Microscope Unit will run a training course on biological specimen
preparation for optical microscopy.  The course aims to provide the
participants with all the knowledge required to obtain better and more
informative specimens for the light microscope.  An emphasis will be made
on understanding how techniques work, which will lead to controlled
manipulation and adjustment and more informed result interpretation.  The
most up-to-date techniques, as well as the well-proven methods will be
covered.  This course will benifit new comers to the field as well as those
in need of a refresher.

Topics covered during the course will include specimen fixation, chemical
and cryo-, cryosectioning, squashing, immunolabelling by fluorescence or
enzyme methods, as well as colloidal gold labelling, with silver
enhancement.  Also covered will be elementary immunology, including
antibody production and purification, fluorescence and fluorescence probes,
double or multiple labelling, the use of non-antibody probes, including
recombinant reporter proteins such as green fluorescence protein (GFP) and
b-glucoronidase (GUS), live-cell imaging after dye loading, and specimen
viewing with various modes of the light microscope, including bright field,
fluorescence and confocal.

The course will run for four days with lectures and hands-on practicals,
using plant and animal tissue, as well as cell culture.  Tutorial time will
be made available to discuss issues such as antibody dilution, filter block
selection and any specific problems.

Date:  Monday 28th  to Thursday 31st July, 1997.

Number of participants will be limited to 10.

For further information on the course please contact either:
        Teresa Dibbayawan               Tel:  9351 7548 Email:
[log in to unmask];  or
        Ellie Kable                     Tel:  9351 7566 Email:
[log in to unmask]

To register as a participant please contact the Australian Key Centre for
Microscopy and Microanalysis secretary on 02 93517551.
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2.  Confocal Microscopy

This course covers the theory and practical operation of the confocal
microscope.
Topics covered include basic principles, resolution, effects of
aberrations, practical considerations (lasers, detectors), sampling, the
digital image, three-dimensional reconstruction.  Course lecturers are
Prof. Colin Sheppard and Dr. Guy Cox.

The course will run for four days with lectures and hands-on practicals.
The practicals will be run in small groups to maximise hands-on time and to
provide opportunities for individual discussion with the lecturers and
demonstrators.

Date:  Monday 11th  to Thursday 14th August, 1997.

Number of participants will be limited to 12.

For further information on the course please contact:
 Guy Cox    Tel: 02 9351 3176            Email:  [log in to unmask]

To register as a participant please contact the Australian Key Centre for
Microscopy and Microanalysis secretary on 02 93517551.
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Dr. Guy Cox,   |                    ooOOOOOOoo
E.M. Unit, F09 |        #       oOOOO  |  |  OOOOo       #
Univ of Sydney |       ###    OOO|  |  |  |  |  |OOO    ###
NSW 2006,      |       ###  OOO  |  |  |  |  |  |  OOO  ###
Australia      |       ### OO |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | OO ###
Phone:         |      #####   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   #####
+61 2 9351 3176| =====#####============================#####=====
Fax:           |      #####                            #####
+61 2 9351 7682|    ~~#####~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#####~~