Weds January 17, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, Mr. Bob Blackledge, retired Senior Chemist from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in San Diego and an expert on forensic science, will give a talk titled "Glitter as Forensic Evidence." Locard's Exchange Principle states, " Every contact leaves a trace ." When these traces involve an exchange between a criminal, victim, and crime scene, there is the potential that they may help to establish a common association. Well known examples of such trace or associative evidence are hairs, fibers, paint chips, and broken glass fragments. Although not as well known, we will see that in many respects "glitter" is the ideal contact trace. Today, glitter may be found in every possible variation of cosmetic products. Glitter is also in widespread use as material for arts and crafts; it is used as decorative material on items of apparel, and it is incorporated in numerous clear plastic commercial products. This presentation will tell you what glitter is; how it is made; the many ways it varies; how it may be found and collected from crime scenes and evidence items; and the many ways it can be characterized and distinguished from other glitter samples. The talk will conclude with several brief case histories (including photomicrographs and infrared spectra from the actual evidence) where glitter was important associative evidence. Mr. Blackledge has also written a book on the subject.

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Weds February 21, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, the presentation will be a slide show illustrating the Natural History of Mono Lake and the surrounding habitat.  The title of the program will be "Morphological Variations in the Fossil Diatoms from Mono Lake."  This program was given to the 11th International Diatom Symposium held in San Francisco, California.  Evidence will be presented to show that the increasingly hostile conditions of the lake ultimately led to the extinction of the its long standing community of diatoms. Fossil diatoms from Mono Lake are extremely rare and unavailable as there is no access to the islands that hold these treasures.  This program offers haunting images of the lake and illustrates diatoms that have never before been seen.  After the presentation, MSSC member, Alan deHaas will be continuing his short talks on the applications of the microscope. This week he will discuss using a microscope with "modern electronics". 

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Weds March 21, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, Kevin Sinchak, Assistant Professor from the Department of Biological Sciences, California State University L.B. will give a presentation on on one of his favorite subjects which he describes as “Visualizing steroid activation of reproductive brain circuits.” In most mammals, females are receptive to male sexual advances for a limited time span during her estrous cycle. This behavioral change is coordinated with reproductive physiology of the ovary and uterus so that mating with the male will most likely result in pregnancy. This change in behavior is dependent on reproductive behavior neural pathways in the brain being exposed sequentially to estrogen and progesterone from the ovary. The brain is first exposed to estradiol secreted by the ovary. This estradiol has several actions in the brain. One is to alter gene expression and protein synthesis; priming the neural circuits for progesterone actions. Another is to increase the activity of neural circuits that actively inhibit her sexual behavior so that she does not attempt to mate when she will not become pregnant. Following this exposure of the brain to estradiol, the ovary releases progesterone which first turns off the inhibitory circuit the estradiol activated. Second, progesterone also activates the estrogen primed neural circuits to induce her sexual receptivity which is coordinated with egg release and an uterus that is capable of supporting a fertilized egg. Dr. Sinchak's research has used anatomical, biochemical and behavioral techniques to study where and when the ovarian hormones, estradiol and progesterone, turn on and off the activity of opioid circuits in the brain to regulate sexual receptivity in the female rodent.

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Weds April 18, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, Dr. Ross Anderson, Ph.D. in biochemistry and professor at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, will give a presentation entitled, "Cellular Machines: How Cells Make Proteins." Dr. Anderson has also directed the research of graduate and medical students at Baylor College and taught advanced physiology, cellular biology and advanced physiology. He has written numerous publications is currently an active member in the American Chemical Society. Proteins are very important to every aspect of life; cells use an assembly line structure with many critical steps from initial instructions to finished protein. Cells even have a built in quality control system that monitors the performance of the process. Beginning with the information in the DNA to the functioning protein, the most complicated process in nature will all be made quite clear by our speaker. After the presentation, MSSC member, Alan deHaas will be continuing his short talks on the applications of the microscope. This week he will focus on new sources of illumination.

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Weds May 16, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

The Pond Life program is undoubtedly one of our best attended and most exciting meetings! Members are strongly encouraged to bring pond water, ditch water, fountain water or anything that lives in water. Microscopes, illuminators and pipettes and tools to play in the water are required.(Extra microscopes are always a good thing to bring for guests to use.) Check out the amoeba to the right, courtesy of www.micrographia.com.

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Weds June 20, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, Edwin L. Jones, MSSC member and Forensic Scientist at the Ventura Sheriff's Forensic Sciences Laboratory will be giving a talk entitled, " The use of the microscope in forensic biology."  He first gave this presentation at the Inter Micro 2006 conference. The presentation will elaborate on the use of light microscopes in the identification of spermatozoa, saliva, vaginal secretions and feces to help solve crimes. Identification of sperm heads with the use of Oppitz's stain (also known as Christmas tree stain) will be covered, as will the differentiation of nucleated squamous epithelial cells from the mouth and vagina using Lugol's iodine test for glycogen. The use of bright field transmitted light microscopy, phase contrast microscopy and polarized light microscopy in this identification process will be discussed.  Ed will also talk about the subject of post coital interval (time since intercourse) as it relates to sperm density and the techniques of measuring sperm density. After the presentation, MSSC member, Alan deHaas will be continuing his short talks on the applications of the microscope. In the past he has covered subjects like illumination and the use of diodes.  

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Weds July 18, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, our speaker will be Julianne E. Kalman Ph.D, from California State University's Environmental Endocrinology Laboratory. Little is known about parasites of marine fishes in the offshore Southern California Bight and other marine and estuarine environments. Parasites are surprisingly prevalent and abundant on multiple vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, and therefore are of interest in multiple disciplines, such as taxonomy, evolution/systematics, ecology, environmental physiology and endocrinology. For example, environmental assessment efforts are commonly conducted using free-living organisms, such as marine fish. Yet, parasites are also highly effective in assessing natural and anthropogenic changes in wildlife, by using parasitism as a bioindicator of stress.

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Weds August 15, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, our speaker will be MSSC member, Larry Albright, who has recently explored such far away places as Antarctica and Papua New Guinea. His will give a documentary type slide show illustrating his travels. This will be a chance to see and hear about the natural history of two very special places. For the second part of the meeting Alan deHaas will say a few words about his father. Most of us have known John deHaas for a very long time and are deeply saddened by his passing. John was an extremely knowledgeable microscopist and always happy to share his knowledge with members. 

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Weds September 19, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, a slide show will be presented, entitled "Sex in the City" focusing on natural history adventures in close-up , macro- and telephotography. The show will document the life histories of two species of backyard butterflies, include a visit to an urban Egret rookery, and throw in a few birds, bees, and other assorted critters for good measure . The second part of the program (after the break) will be a brief  introduction to the CD catalog of microscopes in the collection of the Science Museum in London.  The presentation will be more about the catalog, which provides an extensive database, than about the microscopes themselves (while the entire collection is catalogued and photographed only a few examples will be shown at the meeting). 

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Weds October 17, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

At this meeting, our speaker will be MSSC member, Ken Gregory, who will deliver a visual anatomy lesson in 3D using a stereo projector. He will provide the necessary polarized glasses (but do bring your own if you have them). Come and see the human brain and other organs in 3D!

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DATE CHANGE! Weds November 28, 2007 at 7:00pm, New Roads School (map)

This is the annual Exhibition Meeting of the Society. This is one of the best events of the year and is a great deal of fun. Each member is encouraged to bring along an exhibit to share. Anything associated with microscopic subjects is welcome. Your exhibit could be simple, for example you could set up your microscope with your favorite slide.

A projector will be provided for those bringing 35mm slides. Posters and display boards are also encouraged, along with the usual sales table. Please remember to bring a label or piece of paper with a brief description of your exhibit.

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No December meeting, instead the MSSC Holiday Banquet, Sunday, December 9, 2007 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Earth Wind and Flour.

This year, to better satisfy the palates of our members we will be ordering off the main menu. Prices range from $10.00 to $16.00 depending on what you order.  Each member must bring cash as there will be no individual checks.  Plan on including a 20% gratuity.  RSVP to Jim Solliday (see contacts) no later than December 2, 2007.

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