Fred,
I am very much tempted to agree with you, but I'll try
to be an optimist
Tony 

--- "Monson, Frederick C."  wrote:
> My Mother spent at least two years of my youth
> drumming into me the need to
> say nothing when something that wasn't nice emerged
> from the recesses of my
> tortured brain.  My wife despises sarcasm, but for
> this question I must be
> forgetful and negligent of their well-conceived and
> proper teachings.
> 
> Fixation Classification:  As long as our collective
> knowledge of organic and
> biochemical pathways and mechanisms is so poor and
> histologists,
> pathologists, immunohistochemists, flow
> cytometrists, histotechnologists and
> journal editors believe that a fixative called, "4%
> paraformaldehyde" is
> equivalent to "4% formaldehyde", why worry about
> something like a meaningful
> classification.
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> Fred Monson
> 
> Frederick C. Monson, PhD 
> Center for Advanced Scientific Imaging(CASI) 
> West Chester University of Pennsylvania 
> Schmucker Science Center II  
> South Church Street                                 
>                   
> West Chester, PA, 19383
> eMail:  fmonson@wcupa.edu
> http://darwin.wcupa.edu/casi/
> 
> 
> > ----------
> > From: 	Tony Henwood
> > Sent: 	Thursday, December 13, 2001 5:17 PM
> > To: 	Histonet
> > Subject: 	Fixation Classification
> > 
> > Hi all,
> > Barry Rittman in August this year contributed to
> > histonet:
> > 
> > "Fixatives used to be described as additive or non
> > additive.
> > Additive fixatives are those in which the fixing
> agent
> >  attaches to the
> > protein molecule.
> > Non additive fixatives on the other hand cause
> changes
> > in the proteins
> > that cause them to become changed, often used to
> be
> > described as
> > denaturation.
> > e.g. formalin., picric acid are  additive, ethanol
> is
> > non additive.
> > Because of the complexity of fixation and the
> great
> > variety of agents
> > used, the terms additive and non additive are not
> now
> > commonly used."
> > 
> > The question I have been pondering is "What is the
> > preferred classification for fixatives that we
> should
> > use?"
> > Luna suggested the terms hard and soft fixatives,
> > basing his classification on nuclear appearance.
> > What does everyone else think?
> > 
> > Regards and Happy Christmas and a good new year
> > 
> > Tony
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > =====
> > Tony Henwood JP BAppSc GradDipSysAnaly CT(ASC)
> > Laboratory Manager
> > Histopathology Department
> > The Childrens Hospital at Westmead
> > Locked Bag 4001
> > WESTMEAD, 2145
> > AUSTRALIA
> > 
> > http://shopping.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Shopping
> > - Free CDs for thousands of Priority Shoppers!
> > 
> >  

=====
Tony Henwood JP BAppSc GradDipSysAnaly CT(ASC)
Laboratory Manager
Histopathology Department
The Childrens Hospital at Westmead
Locked Bag 4001
WESTMEAD, 2145
AUSTRALIA

http://shopping.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Shopping
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