static public long SpecimenIDFromBarcode(string barcode)
        {
            string ToDecode = barcode.Trim().ToUpper().Substring(1);    // always uppercase, first character is material-type

            return(Base36.Decode(ToDecode));
        }
 static public string BarcodeFromSpecimenID(long specimen_id)
 {
     return("1" + Base36.Encode(specimen_id));    //note: material=-type prefix for specimens is 1
 }