Featuring an Australian first: toad euthanasia workshop
Workshops include:
* How to get away with murder: hands on toad euthanasia workshop using the current approved CO2 protocol
* Dissection session – send us your specimen requests now! Hearts? Piglets?
* Anatomy and physiology classroom activities
* Classroom experiments to make earth science fun and interesting
* Rock identification
* Microfossils and foraminifera
* Tag-along tour of local geology sites that you can turn into your own school excursion
* Drinks and networking session on Monday afternoon
If you have an idea for a session or would like to run one on another topic then feel free to get in touch.
Cost will be kept to a minimum to cover consumables and catering.
This is an ideal opportunity to get good quality PD right in your own backyard, so please encourage your colleagues to come along. Don’t forget to share this invitation with your local network as well – we don’t know everyone, it just feels like it!
(check your email for a confirmation link)
Proudly sponsored by Dissection Connection and Rockhoundz
One of my favourite things about conferences is catching up with the other suppliers and checking out all the cool new stuff they have for you. In Cairns in June the lovely lads from Scientrific gave me a sample of the Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector with instructions to try it out as a dissection mat and report back.
Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
The mat comes as a sheet or a roll and you can easily cut a piece to the size you need. It’s designed with all sorts of lab tasks in mind, it’s chemical resistant and absorbs spills.
Foreground – waterproof back of mat, Background – slip resistant front of mat. Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
The front of the mat is slightly fuzzy and the back has a waterproof coating to stop ‘yuck’ from soaking through on to the bench. I’m going to test it out on an eye dissection to see how it goes.
Porcine eye dissection performed on Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
The slip resistant surface of the mat held on to the specimen nicely and stopped it from scooting out from under the scalpel blade. Porcine eyes aren’t very big so your fingers are quite close to the blade. The less slippage, the better. Once the eye was opened the mat soaked up the vitreous humour that spills out and usually makes your dissection tray a bit slippery.
Aftermath of the porcine eye dissection on Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
I didn’t bother with a dissection board – I just used the mat directly on the table. You can see the back of the mat here hasn’t let any of the moisture leak through and hasn’t been cut by the normal use of the scalpel.
Waterproof back of mat following porcine eye dissection on Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
I tested a direct slice with the scalpel onto the mat and it did go straight through but that wouldn’t be a problem during a normal dissection. Pushing the scalpel straight down through the layers of the cornea onto the mat didn’t cut through it at all. You would probably use the mat on top of some sort of dissection board in the classroom anyway to avoid any damage to your benchtops.
Hole cut with scalpel in Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector from Scientrific
At the end of the dissection your boards and benches should just need a quick spray and wipe down with some disinfectant unless someone has really gone to town with the scalpel on the mat. The mat can be cut to size and then the leftovers can be wrapped up in it and disposed of so there is very little wastage and it will help with tidy up at the end of the class.
All in all, I think this would be a valuable addition to the lab. Not only for dissections but for all sorts of experiments in the classroom as well as for jobs in the prep room. Don’t forget it is chemical resistant as well so it can be used to protect your benchtops from chemistry experiment spills and thrills. Next time you see Scientrific at a conference then ask to have a look at a sample.
The Nalgene Super Versi-Dry Surface Protector sample was supplied free of charge on the understanding that it would be honestly reviewed on this site without influencing the outcome of the review.
Last week we sent out some hearts for the conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS). Today I’ve received a picture of one of them ready for action.
Bovine heart prepared for Bentall procedure workshop
And what were they going to do with them? Replacement of the aortic valve, aortic root and ascending aorta in a workshop on the Bentall procedure.
Labbies will be pleased to note that even for heart surgeons sometimes it all comes down to skewers and sticky tape!
Stillborn piglets make an excellent alternative to rats for dissection
This little piggy is the latest and greatest in whole animal dissection specimens. They are either stillborn from large litters or smothered by the sow in the stall and come from a farm breeding pigs for meat. They are usually disposed of as farm waste but we are collecting them and diverting them from the waste stream for dissection. They are less smelly, cheaper, closer to human anatomy than a rat and aren’t being bred just to be euthanased for science, so each piglet used in the classroom represents a rat that hasn’t had to be put down.
Each piglet typically weighs 600-800g. The piglets are collected and frozen without any chemical preservatives which reduces your chemical exposure in the lab as well as eliminating a source of exposure to the kids in the classroom. It also makes the piglets safe to dispose of in landfill with other normal waste.
The organs of the stillborn piglet are clean and clearly identifiable
As they generally have not yet fed or only briefly suckled, the intestinal tract is pretty clean and there is little smell to the specimen. Each organ can easily be identified and removed for further exploration.
Closeup view of the piglet urogenital system
The detail in the circulatory system of the piglets is particularly amazing. You can see in the photo above the veins and arteries of the urogenital system clearly visible. Once the overlying organs were taken out, the spine was visible and a section could be removed to allow the spinal cord to be seen.
There is a lot more that can be explored with these specimens and we will be spending a lot of time working on them so we can develop some really good resources to allow you to get more bang for your buck. In the meantime keep an eye out for workshop announcements that will give you the chance to get your hands on one. We are expecting to be able to bring them to you at ConQEST 2012, if not before.
