A new technique for orcein banding with acid treatment

A rapid method for banding plant chromosomes using hydrochloric acid with orcein is suggested. The technique has been successful in both dioecious and monoecious families with short chromosomes. It involves pretreatment with an oxyquinoline-paradichlorobenzene mixture, fixation in acetic ethanol and treatment with hydrochloric acid at 60 C followed by staining with orcein. Stained chromosome bands and interbands are reproducible and species specific.     

A new surgical technique for the treatment of high common peroneal nerve palsy

In this article, the authors introduce a new procedure for the treatment of high common peroneal nerve palsy. The principle of this technique consists of the neurotization of the anterior tibial nerve (deep peroneal nerve) with the bundle composed of the nerves to the soleus and lateral head of gastrocnemius muscles. The authors used this procedure for eight children who had permanent common peroneal nerve palsy caused by the injection of diclofenac in the gluteal region and for a 25-year-old male patient whose common peroneal nerve was transected near the gluteal region by a stab wound. For the cases in which paralysis was less than 8 months in duration, the results are satisfactory.     

A new technique for brachioplasty

A new technique for brachioplasty is proposed, aiming at correction of ptosis without excision. It is based on rolling a deepithelialized flap around from the rear and sliding it underneath the inside frontal skin of the arm, recreating the roundness of the arm and a firmer consistency. This technique has been utilized in 12 patients so far, with a follow-up ranging from 8 months to 4 years. No postoperative edema were observed, but one case of hyperesthesia appeared for a period of 2 months. The main preoccupation is scar sequelae, which must limit the intervention to patients clearly aware of the possibility of healing complications.     

A new mandibulotomy technique for the dentate patient

Past mandibulotomy techniques, useful for surgical access to pathology of the head and neck, are complicated by postoperative malocclusion when performed on dentate patients. Malocclusion results from closure of the gap created by the saw blade during reconstruction. A new method of mandibulotomy bicortically splits the symphysis using an osteotome, with modifications to spare healthy dentition. The bicortical split osteotomy allows the hemimandibular segments to be approximated, accurately aligned, and rigidly fixed with three bone screws and a dental arch bar.     

A new technique for hard tissues

Fossil tissues generally require specialized processing. Most thin sectioning techniques yield unstained sections or require unwieldy methods to produce stained sections. I outline here two simple techniques for producing stained, ground, thin sections using readily available Romanowsky-type cytology stains and a urine sediment stain. Results are comparable to hematoxylin and eosin stained specimens.     

A new technique for the culture of fern gametophytes

Fern gametophytes initiated from spores grew successfully when immobilised in reticulate polyurethane foam in liquid shake cultures. Colonisation of this matrix was complete seven days after medium inoculation and appeared to be a completely passive process. Yield (dry weight) was greater than that from liquid grown cultures.     

A new staining technique for microfilariae.

A rapid whole mount staining method is described to identify and differentiate microfilariae without elaborate processing. A single solution combining Hoyer's mounting medium and hematoxylin stain facilitates light microscopic examination of nuclei and sheaths of microfilariae. The new technique stains microfilariae adequately in three to seven minutes at 60--64 C making the method preferable to conventional methods that may take as long as 45 to 60 minutes. Lantern heat may be used to heat slides in rural areas with good results.     

A new technique for reconstructing Montgomery's tubercles

Although Montgomery's tubercles are often prominent structures on the areola, little attention has been paid to their reconstruction. Present techniques for nipple-areola reconstruction result in a flat-appearing surface that is usually not characteristic of a normal areola with its projecting Montgomery's tubercles. We describe a technique for creating Montgomery's tubercles that has resulted in a more normal-appearing nipple-areola complex and a higher degree of patient satisfaction.     

A new technique for identifying sequence heterochrony

Sequence heterochrony (changes in the order in which events occur) is a potentially important, but relatively poorly explored, mechanism for the evolution of development. In part, this is because of the inherent difficulties in inferring sequence heterochrony across species. The event-pairing method, developed independently by several workers in the mid-1990s, encodes sequences in a way that allows them to be examined in a phylogenetic framework, but the results can be difficult to interpret in terms of actual heterochronic changes. Here, we describe a new, parsimony-based method to interpret such results. For each branch of the tree, it identifies the least number of event movements (heterochronies) that will explain all the observed event-pair changes. It has the potential to find all alternative, equally parsimonious explanations, and generate a consensus, containing the movements that form part of every equally most parsimonious explanation. This new technique, which we call Parsimov, greatly increases the utility of the event-pair method for inferring instances of sequence heterochrony.     

A new technique for most-probable-number counts of Rhizobia

Summary MPN (most-probable-number) counts of rhizobia by using legumes grown in plastic pouches were essentially equal to pour-plate counts. By using plastic pouches, 60 growth units could be placed in 684 cm² of bench space, and only 20 minutes were required to prepare and seed 60 plastic pouches for inoculations.     

A new technique for continuous measurement of the heat of fermentation

Summary A special temperature control system has been developed and applied to continuous measuring of the heat evolved during a fermentation process. In this system, the fermentation broth was overcooled by a given constant cooling water flow. The excess heat removed from the fermentor was then made up by an immersion electrical heater. The action of the temperature controller was precisely monitored as it varied in response to the amount of heat produced by the microbial activities.The technique was used for determining the heat evolution byEscherichia coli grown on glucose. The ratio between quantities of total heat release and total oxygen consumption has been determined to be 0.556 MJ/mol O₂.The newly developed technique can be employed as an online sensor to monitor the microbial activities of either aerobic or anaerobic fermentation systems.Symbols C_c Heat capacity of cooling water (MJ/kg · °C) - C_p Heat capacity (MJ/kg · °C) - I Current of immersion heater (A) - K Constant in Equation (2) (h) - K Constant in Equation (13) (m³ · h · °C/MJ) - Q_c Flow rate of cooling water (m³/h) - Heat of agitation (MJ/m³ · h) - Heat dissipated by the bubbling gas (MJ/m³ · h) - Heat removal by the action of controller (MJ/m³ · h) - Heat of fermentation (MJ/m³ · h) - Heat loss to the surroundings (MJ/m³ · h) - Q_pass Constant average power dissipated by the immersion heater (MJ/m³ · h) - Fluctuating power dissipated by the immersion heater (MJ/m³ · h) - Power dissipated by the immersion heater (MJ/m³ · h) - T Temperature of fermentation broth (°C) - Constant average temperature of fermentation broth (°C) - Fluctuating temperature of fermentation broth (°C) - T_a Temperature of the ambient air (°C) - T_c Inlet temperature of cooling water (°C) - U₁A₁ Specific heat transfer coefficient for determination of heat loss to the surroundings (MJ/m³ · h · °C) - U₂A₂ Specific heat transfer coefficient for cooling surfaces (MJ/m³ · h · °C) - U₃A₃ Constant in Equation (16) (MJ/m³ · h · °C) - V Voltage of immersion heater (V) - V_L Liquid volume (m³) - OUR Oxygen uptake rate (mol O₂/m³ · h) Greek Letters H_fo The ratio between the total heat release and the total oxygen uptake (MJ/mol O₂) - _c Density of cooling water (kg/m³) - Time constant defined in Equation (6) (h) - _iM_iC_pi Heat capacity of system components (fermentation broth + fermentor jar + stainless steel) (MJ/m³ · °C)