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PubMed1981

[Preparation of anatomic museum specimens while preserving their color and consistency].

Sinitsyn's solution (carbolic acid 9 g, boric acid 15 g, sodium bicarbonate 45 g, distilled water up to 1 litre) is proposed for fixation and storage of museum anatomic preparations which retain their colour and consistence. This method allows further histological examination of museum preparations. The method has been used and approved in the pathology department of the Central District Hospital of the Tymov area.

Color↗
PubMed1996

[Medical and natrual scientists behind the museum which became the University of Bergen].

The University of Bergen celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. The University was built on an earlier institution, the Bergen Museum, founded in 1825. From 1880 until the beginning of this century the Museum gradually developed into an institution for research and higher education. The article describes work done by some of the key persons involved in this process, mainly medical and natural scientists. In particular, their international relations and ability to cooperative with other scientists were crucial factors in establishing the pillars of the later University of Bergen. Today, the University of Bergen has nearly 18,000 students and seven faculties, and is a highly internationalised institution.

History, 19th Century↗
PubMed1998

Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I: Syndromes with multiple congenital anomalies.

The Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the University of Amsterdam, founded by Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), consists of more than 5,000 thousand specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, the collection of congenital anomalies was recatalogued and redescribed according to contempory syndromological views. The original descriptions, as far as preserved, were compared with the clinical and radiographical findings. In 13 specimens the following multiple congenital anomalies (MCA) syndromes were diagnosed: acrofacial dysostosis, Apert syndrome, Brachmann-De Lange syndrome, ichthyosis congenita gravis, Jarcho-Levin syndrome, Meckel syndrome, oro-facio-digital syndrome type IV, Roberts syndrome, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, Treacher Collins syndrome, and trisomy 13. It appeared that the founders of the museum studied and described several of these syndromes many years before they became established as such. In some specimens a reliable diagnosis is still pending. The use of additional diagnostical techniques, such as MRI, CT scanning, and fluorescence in situ hybridization, in these specimens is currently being investigated.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed2002

Methods for the recovery of mitochondrial DNA sequences from museum specimens of myiasis-causing flies.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from eight species of myiasis-causing flies, stored for up to 50 years, were amplified successfully. Universal primers were used to amplify six specific regions from total genomic DNA, including five mtDNA genes. The comparison of phenol/chloroform, DNAzol and Chelex techniques for DNA extraction showed that the DNAzol reagent was the most efficient in retrieving DNA from museum specimens, although the Chelex extraction procedure is currently the most frequently reported method. Comparison of the universal primer sequences with the homologous sequences of Cochliomyia hominivorax Coquerel and Chrysomya putoria Wiedemann (Diptera: Calliphoridae) revealed mismatches that could contribute to the low recovery of a short sequence from subunit II of cytochrome oxidase. The ability to characterize mtDNA markers from museum specimens should be useful in comparative studies of contemporary samples and should help in elucidating species introduction, colonization and dispersal.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

An evaluation of introgression of Atlantic coast striped bass mitochondrial DNA in a Gulf of Mexico population using formalin-preserved museum collections.

Striped bass Morone saxatilis populations in drainages along the Gulf of Mexico coast (Gulf) were depleted in the 1950s and 1960s, probably because of anthropogenic influences. It is believed that only the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (A-C-F) river system continually supported a naturally reproducing population of Gulf lineage. Striped bass juveniles of Atlantic coast (Atlantic) ancestry were introduced to restore population abundances in the A-C-F from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s and in many other Gulf rivers from the 1960s to the present. We previously identified mtDNA polymorphisms that were unique to approximately 60% of striped bass from the A-C-F and which confirmed the continued successful natural reproduction of striped bass of Gulf maternal ancestry within the system. However, the genetic relatedness of the extant A-C-F population to 'pure' Gulf striped bass was not addressed. In this study, we determined the frequency of a diagnostic mtDNA XbaI polymorphism in samples of 'pure' Gulf striped bass that were collected from the A-C-F prior to the introduction of Atlantic fish, that were obtained from museum collections, and that were originally preserved in formalin. PCR primers were developed that allowed for amplification of a 191-bp mtDNA fragment that contained the diagnostic XbaI restriction site. Using RFLP and direct sequence analyses of the PCR amplicons, we found no significant differences in mtDNA XbaI genotype frequencies between the archived samples and extant A-C-F samples collected over a 15-year period. This indicates that significant maternally mediated introgression of Atlantic mtDNA genomes into the A-C-F gene pool has not occurred. Additionally, we found no evidence of the unique Gulf mtDNA genotype in striped bass from extant populations in Texas, Louisiana and the Mississippi River. These results highlight the importance of the A-C-F as a repository of striped bass to restore extirpated Gulf populations and the potential use of museum collections in retrospective population studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

The Wood Library-Museum's 1858 edition of John Snow's On chloroform and other anaesthetics.

The original 1858 edition of John Snow's On Chloroform and Other Anaesthetics, from which came the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology reprints in 1971 and 1989, was donated to the Wood Library-Museum by Ralph Waters of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1967. The book contains a message of appreciation to Waters, dated October 1937, with the signatures of J. Blomfield, Charles King, and R.R. Macintosh as representatives of anesthesiology in England. Correspondence exists in the archives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison between Macintosh, Professor of Anaesthetics in Oxford, and Waters, Associate Professor in Madison. This reveals that Waters, during his visit to England in 1936, inspired British anesthetists to discover more of Snow's early contributions to anesthesiology, even though Waters himself did not possess On Chloroform and Other Anaesthetics. King, a manufacturer of anesthetic equipment, found a copy in the hands of Blomfield, an anesthetist at St. George's Hospital, London, where John Snow had worked. It was this copy that they presented to Waters, and that was delivered to Waters by hand when Waters' resident, Ivan Taylor, returned from Oxford to Madison. Blomfield's ownership of the book, in addition to his position as president of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, explains why the inscription is in his handwriting.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed2003

A forty-three year museum study of northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans) abnormalities in Arkansas: upward trends and distributions.

The northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans) is a resident of streams, rivers, and wetlands of eastern North America. We documented abnormalities in A. crepitans housed in the Arkansas State University Museum of Zoology Herpetology Collection. Abnormality frequency increased from 1957 to 2000 (chi 2 = 43.76, df = 3, P < 0.001). From 1957 through 1979 only 3.33% of specimens were unusual. This rate was 6.87% during the 1990s, and in 2000 it was 8.48%. High frequencies of abnormalities were identified in the following Ozark highland counties: Sharp, Lawrence, and Randolph. We observed 104 abnormalities among 1,464 frogs (7.10%). The differential abnormality frequencies observed between the Arkansas lowlands and highlands are striking. The Ozarks had significantly higher frequencies of abnormalities than other Arkansas regions (chi 2 = 59.76, df = 4, P < 0.001). The Ouachita Mountains had significantly higher frequencies than the Gulf Coastal Plain, Delta, or Arkansas River Valley (chi 2 = 13.172, df = 3, P < 0.01). There was no difference in abnormality frequency between the Gulf Coastal Plain, Delta, and Arkansas River Valley (chi 2 = 0.422, df = 2, P > 0.70). Proposed hypotheses for distributions include: 1) A. crepitans might possess naturally high abnormality levels, and land use practices of the Delta may reduce this variability; 2) an unknown xenobiotic may be in Ozark streams causing increased numbers of abnormalities; 3) the museum's collection effort may be skewed; 4) Delta habitat might be more favorable for green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) allowing this species to drive out A. crepitans through competition; here, abnormal metamorphs are not detected because they are even less competitive than normal individuals.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Rapid isolation of DNA from fossil and museum specimens suitable for PCR.

We describe a simple process for extraction of DNA from amber-entombed fossils and museum specimens that is suitable for enzymatic amplification by PCR. Five to ten milligrams of the macerated specimen were mixed in 300 microliters of silica matrix and shaken at 55 degrees C for 1 h in a sterile, screw-capped microcentrifuge tube. After incubation, the silica matrix was transferred to the upper chamber of a SpinFilter, centrifuged at maximum speed for 1 min and then washed twice with 500 microliters of wash solution and the DNA eluted with 50 microliters of TE buffer. The eluate was used as template for PCR, and the results were evaluated by electrophoresis and nucleotide sequence analysis. All samples tested yielded positive results, which were subsequently verified by sequence analysis. It appears, at least in our hands, that the procedure described here is a rapid and efficient way of obtaining small amounts of DNA for PCR in museum and fossilized specimens.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Sir Hans Sloane's contributions to ocular therapy, scientific journalism, and the creation of the British Museum.

Sir Hans Sloane, MD, (1660-1753) is best known today for his collections of books, manuscripts, and curiosities, which formed the nucleus of the British Museum at its creation the year he died. Sloane wrote about the eye from the level of knowledge of the most informed physicians of his day. He was a long-term editor of the first scientific journal published in English and was instrumental in establishing the type of scientific literature we depend on today. Arch Ophthalmol. 2000;118:1567-1573

History, 17th Century↗
PubMed1998

Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. III: primary field defects, sequences, and other complex anomalies.

The Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, founded by Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), consists of more than 5,000 specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, the collection of congenital anomalies, comprising 360 specimens, was recatalogued and redescribed according to contemporary morphogenetic views. The original descriptions, if preserved, were compared with the clinical, radiographical, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. In 120 specimens the following midline anomalies, primary field defects, and sequences were diagnosed: holoprosencephaly sequence; aprosencephaly/atelencephaly; cleft lip; Pierre Robin sequence; omphalocele; diaphragmatic hernia; ectopic heart; bladder exstrophy; cloacal exstrophy; caudal dysgenesis; prune belly sequence; sirenomelia; fetal akinesia sequence; and disruption sequences. Polytopic field defects and associations were diagnosed in 25 specimens. We discuss the opinions of Gerardus and Willem Vrolik, who tried to find reasonable explanations for the dysmorphogenetic entities they investigated, rather than accepting the traditional superstitions.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1998

Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. IV: closure defects of the neural tube.

The Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the University of Amsterdam, founded by Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), consists of more than 5,000 specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, the collection of congenital anomalies, comprising 360 specimens, was recatalogued and redescribed according to contemporary morphogenetic opinions. The original descriptions, as far as preserved, were compared with the clinical and additional findings. Based on the classification by closure site, proposed by Van Allen et al. [1993], the following closure defects of the neural tube were diagnosed in 107 specimens: craniorachischisis, holoacranium with partial rachischisis, faciocranioschisis, holoacranium, meroacranium, occipital cranioschisis, frontal encephalocele, parietal encephalocele, occipital encephalocele, occipital encephalocele with rachischisis, occipito-cervical encephalocele, thoracolumbar spina bifida, lumbosacral spina bifida, occult sacral dysraphism, and sacrococcygeal dysgenesis. Furthermore, we diagnosed three conditions that did not appear in the aforementioned classification; we named these conditions craniorachischisis totalis, occipital craniorachischisis, and thoracolumbosacral spina bifida. The results of our study are in line with the assumption that particularly occipito-cervical neural tube defects are associated with concomitant anomalies and are more common in females. The results support the idea of multisite closure of the human neural tube.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Formaldehyde activity on historical glass objects in museum microclimate.

Degradation of some cultural heritage monuments has been caused by interaction with the closest environment (micro-climate). Amount of separate compounds is very small and because of it, this fact becomes neglected. Time and temperature can induce their activity finally causing deterioration. In this category organic compounds can be interpreted as one of museum show - case element. This statement has been improved by testing glass objects and their suitable sensors (model glasses). Destructive activity of formaldehyde on historical glasses belonging to the XVIII-th c. objects with totally different compositions has been confirmed by carried out experiments. For historical material which is very limited, sensor glass method has been applied. Sensors are prepared on the base of results of chemical analyses of original glass chemical analyses and melted on laboratory scale (according to historical data). Induced corrosion for sensor supports knowledge about deterioration process in real micro-environmental conditions. The following testing methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical interferometer (OI), inductively couple plasma (ICP).

Formaldehyde↗
PubMed2005

Malformations of the axial skeleton in Museum Vrolik I: homeotic transformations and numerical anomalies.

The Museum Vrolik collection of anatomical specimens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, comprises over 5,000 specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, we rediagnosed a subset of the collection comprising dried human trunk skeletons and cranial base preparations presenting with homeotic transformations (vertebral phenotypic shifts) and numerical vertebral anomalies. We identified 11 trunk skeletons with either anterior or posterior homeotic transformations (AHT or PHT), 5 trunk skeletons with either less or more than the normal number of vertebrae, and well over a hundred cranial base preparations with either AHT (atlas-assimilation) or PHT (occipital vertebra). We found that, although homeotic transformations and numerical anomalies are distinct conditions, both can be described in terms of mismatch between homeotic patterning and morphological segmentation of the paraxial mesoderm. Therefore these two processes are perhaps not as tightly linked as they may seem on the basis of recent molecular studies. In homeotic transformations there is a constant mismatch between homeotic patterning and morphological segmentation throughout the affected region of the vertebral column. In numerical anomalies there is a variable mismatch between homeotic patterning and morphological segmentation, either because of stretching or squeezing of the homeotic pattern or because of oligo- or polysegmentation of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). Homeotic transformations of the axial skeleton have an incidence of about 1%-5%, apart from their occurrence in malformation syndromes. Of the various etiological possibilities, explaining their frequent but mostly sporadic occurrence, maternal hyperthermia seems an attractive candidate.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Malformations of the axial skeleton in the museum Vrolik: II: craniosynostoses and suture-related conditions.

The Museum Vrolik collection of anatomical specimens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, comprises over 5,000 specimens of human and animal anatomy, embryology, pathology, and congenital anomalies. Recently, we rediagnosed a subset of the collection comprising dried infantile, juvenile, and adult human skulls with congenital and acquired conditions. On external examination and additional radiography, we found 58 skulls with craniosynostosis (CS) involving one or more sutures and 40 skulls with a presumed suture related condition. Most of these were part of the material collected and described by Louis Bolk (1866-1930). Analysis of his observations suggests that skull deformation because of premature suture closure depends not only on the identity of the sutures involved but also on the timing and progression of their closure and the extent of their involvement. Moreover, premature closure of the sagittal suture after 3-6 years of age appeared to be much more common than expected because it is not accompanied by skull deformation. Many of the skulls with single-suture CS were microcephalic, which may be the cause of the premature synostosis. By contrast, microcephaly may be a resulting phenomenon in multi-suture CS. We noticed that the quotient between height of the cranial vault (vertex-porion distance) and head circumference, multiplied by 100, was 26 or higher only in those CS cases with multi-suture involvement. We therefore consider this parameter, which we named "acrocephalic index", to be an indicator of multi-suture involvement in individual CS cases. In two adult skulls, the skull had a quadrangular shape, which we assumed to be correlated to the presence of an unusually interdigitated open metopic suture. We propose to name this anomaly: tetragonocephaly. Another presumed suture-related condition, bathrocephaly, was found concomitantly with basilar invagination in several cases. We hypothesize that the chronically raised intracranial pressure in these cases caused the still open lambdoidal sutures to distend and the occipital bone to protrude.

Cranial Sutures↗
PubMed2002

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of a tadpole shrimp (Triops cancriformis) and analysis of museum samples.

The complete mitochondrial DNA (mtNDA) of the tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis was sequenced. The sequence consisted of 15,101 bp with an A+T content of 69%. Its gene arrangement was identical with those sequences of the water flea (Daphnia pulex) and giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), whereas it differed from that of the brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) in the arrangement of its genes for tRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed T. cancriformis to be more closely related to the water flea than to the brine shrimp and giant tiger prawn. We also compared the 16S rRNA sequences of five formalin-fixed tadpole shrimps that had been collected in five different locations and stored in a museum. The sequence divergence was in the range of 0-1.51%, suggesting that those samples were closely related to each other.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Alcian blue method for the museum display of squamous metaplasia in the larynx.

The Alcian blue method is described as an alternative to the use of pyronin for the immediate post-mortem demonstration of squamous in the larynx. Alcian blue-stained specimens can be stored for prolonged periods in 4 per cent formaldehyde in normal saline without loss of contrast and used as wet specimens for teaching purposes. Alcian blue-stained larynges showing squamous metaplasia can be permanently mounted for museum display in either Kaiserling's or Wentworth's fluids.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Phylogenetic study of complete cytochrome b genes in musk deer (genus Moschus) using museum samples.

As an endangered animal group, musk deer (genus Moschus) are not only a great concern of wildlife conservation, but also of special interest to evolutionary studies due to long-standing arguments on the taxonomic and phylogenetic associations in this group. Using museum samples, we sequenced complete mitochondrial cytochrome b genes (1140 bp) of all suggested species of musk deer in order to reconstruct their phylogenetic history through molecular information. Our results showed that the cytochrome b gene tree is rather robust and concurred for all the algorithms employed (parsimony, maximum likelihood, and distance methods). Further, the relative rate test indicated a constant sequence substitution rate among all the species, permitting the dating of divergence events by molecular clock. According to the molecular topology, M. moschiferus branched off the earliest from a common ancestor of musk deer (about 700,000 years ago); then followed the bifurcation forming the M. berezovskii lineage and the lineage clustering M. fuscus, M. chrysogaster, and M. leucogaster (around 370,000 years before present). Interestingly, the most recent speciation event in musk deer happened rather recently (140,000 years ago), which might have resulted from the diversified habitats and geographic barriers in southwest China caused by gigantic movements of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in history. Combining the data of current distributions, fossil records, and molecular data of this study, we suggest that the historical dispersion of musk deer might be from north to south in China. Additionally, in our further analyses involving other pecora species, musk deer was strongly supported as a monophyletic group and a valid family in Artiodactyla, closely related to Cervidae.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Museum egg collections as stores of long-term phenological data.

Museum collections hold large amounts of data on collecting dates and localities of eggs collected over the past 150 years. Egg collections hold the longest available time series for a wide range of bird species on a large spatial scale. Using data for two British species I investigate whether egg collection data can be used in phenological research. A method is presented allowing laying dates to be estimated from collecting dates. Problems and biases in the data are highlighted. Both the dipper and song thrush have started laying earlier over the past 150 years. The advance in laying is significantly correlated with mean March temperature.

Animals↗