I would suggest using some sort of conductive adhesive for what I guess is analysis of the minerals by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis of their elemental composition. I would think that embedding in a high melting point wax might have adverse effects by absorbing/scattering the electron beam in the high-carbon wax before it penetrated to the mineral grains. Check out these products:
http://www.tedpella.com/SEMmisc_html/SEMpaint.htm ________________________________________ From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] on behalf of Patsy Ruegg [pru...@ihctech.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 5:37 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] FW: EM questions Can anyone help with this, I haven't got a clue? Patsy Ruegg, HT(ASCP)QIHC IHCtech, LLC Fitzsimmons BioScience Park 12635 Montview Blvd. Suite 215 Aurora, CO 80010 P-720-859-4060 F-720-859-4110 wk email pru...@ihctech.net web site www.ihctech.net This email is confidential and intended solely for the use of the Person(s) ('the intended recipient') to whom it was addressed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author. It may contain information that is privileged & confidential within the meaning of applicable law. Accordingly any dissemination, distribution, copying, or other use of this message, or any of its contents, by any person other than the intended recipient may constitute a breach of civil or criminal law and is strictly prohibited. If you are NOT the intended recipient please contact the sender and dispose of this e-mail as soon as possible. -----Original Message----- From: Suarez, Andrea Luisa [mailto:andrea.sua...@ucdenver.edu] Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 3:22 PM To: pru...@ihctech.net Cc: High, Whitney Subject: EM questions Hi Patsy, Not sure if you remember me from my days as a graduate student in the van Dyk lab. How are you? I am working w/ Dr Whit High at CU dermpath on an EM project. I had some questions that perhaps you might have some answers to. We are doing a project where we will be doing QEMSCAN at school of mines, which has the capacity to do a very sophisticated analysis of mineral composition. We will be looking for volcanic ash deposition in human skin samples, and would like to embedd the tissues in as pure a fashion as possible, with optimum antigen preservation. We have some concerns about parrafin embedding, as we plan to mount the sections onto carbon planchets. Our experience w/ this in the past, is that adherence to the planchet is poor after deparafinizaiton. Therefore, we would like to optimize adherence, if possible, or avoid the need for deparafinization by embedding in a wax (such as carnuba) w/ a very high melting temp. 1.) Do you have any experience/insight regarding embedding in carnuba wax? Do you know of anyone who would be willing to do this for us? 2.) Do you have any recomendations as to how to improve adherence to the carbon planchet in the event that we do end up having to de-parafinize? We were thinking that adding albumin to the water bath may help things. Any thoughts on this? Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Andrea Suarez, MD/PhD Colorado Health Foundation Transitional Intern andrea.sua...@ucdenver.edu _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet