Method of tissue preparation in which the tissue specimen is frozen and then dehydrated at low temperature in a high vacuum. This method is also used for dehydrating pharmaceutical and food products.

Preparation for electron microscopy of minute replicas of exposed surfaces of the cell which have been ruptured in the frozen state. The specimen is frozen, then cleaved under high vacuum at the same temperature. The exposed surface is shadowed with carbon and platinum and coated with carbon to obtain a carbon replica.

A modification of the freeze-drying method in which the ice within the frozen tissue is replaced by alcohol or other solvent at a very low temperature.

Liquids transforming into solids by the removal of heat.

A replica technique in which cells are frozen to a very low temperature and cracked with a knife blade to expose the interior surfaces of the cells or cell membranes. The cracked cell surfaces are then freeze-dried to expose their constituents. The surfaces are now ready for shadowing to be viewed using an electron microscope. This method differs from freeze-fracturing in that no cryoprotectant is used and, thus, allows for the sublimation of water during the freeze-drying process to etch the surfaces.

The solid substance formed by the FREEZING of water.

Substances that provide protection against the harmful effects of freezing temperatures.

Procedures for recognizing individual animals and certain identifiable characteristics pertaining to them; includes computerized methods, ear tags, etc.

The use of freezing as a special surgical technique to destroy or excise tissue.

Preservation of cells, tissues, organs, or embryos by freezing. In histological preparations, cryopreservation or cryofixation is used to maintain the existing form, structure, and chemical composition of all the constituent elements of the specimens.

Damage to tissues as the result of low environmental temperatures.

Removal of moisture from a substance (chemical, food, tissue, etc.).

Adaptation to a new environment or to a change in the old.

An absence of warmth or heat or a temperature notably below an accustomed norm.

Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.

The family of true frogs of the order Anura. The family occurs worldwide except in Antarctica.

One of the protein CROSS-LINKING REAGENTS that is used as a disinfectant for sterilization of heat-sensitive equipment and as a laboratory reagent, especially as a fixative.

The study, utilization, and manipulation of those microorganisms capable of economically producing desirable substances or changes in substances, and the control of undesirable microorganisms.

Baked food product made of flour or meal that is moistened, kneaded, and sometimes fermented. A major food since prehistoric times, it has been made in various forms using a variety of ingredients and methods.

The process of protecting various samples of biological material.

A large family of fruit flies in the order DIPTERA, comprising over 4,500 species in about 100 genera. They have patterned wings and brightly colored bodies and are found predominantly in the tropical latitudes.

A plant genus of the family ASTERACEAE known for allergenic pollen (ALLERGENS).

Osmium. A very hard, gray, toxic, and nearly infusible metal element, atomic number 76, atomic weight 190.2, symbol Os. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

Agents employed in the preparation of histologic or pathologic specimens for the purpose of maintaining the existing form and structure of all of the constituent elements. Great numbers of different agents are used; some are also decalcifying and hardening agents. They must quickly kill and coagulate living tissue.

Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.

The chemical and physical integrity of a pharmaceutical product.

Proteins that bind to ice and modify the growth of ice crystals. They perform a cryoprotective role in a variety of organisms.

A trihydroxy sugar alcohol that is an intermediate in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. It is used as a solvent, emollient, pharmaceutical agent, and sweetening agent.

The dormant state in which some warm-blooded animal species pass the winter. It is characterized by narcosis and by sharp reduction in body temperature and metabolic activity and by a depression of vital signs.

The technique of using a microtome to cut thin or ultrathin sections of tissues embedded in a supporting substance. The microtome is an instrument that hold a steel, glass or diamond knife in clamps at an angle to the blocks of prepared tissues, which it cuts in sections of equal thickness.

The application of scientific knowledge or technology to pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry. It includes methods, techniques, and instrumentation in the manufacture, preparation, compounding, dispensing, packaging, and storing of drugs and other preparations used in diagnostic and determinative procedures, and in the treatment of patients.

The mechanical process of cooling.

Clotting time of PLASMA recalcified in the presence of excess TISSUE THROMBOPLASTIN. Factors measured are FIBRINOGEN; PROTHROMBIN; FACTOR V; FACTOR VII; and FACTOR X. It is used for monitoring anticoagulant therapy with COUMARINS.

An induced response to threatening stimuli characterized by the cessation of body movements, except for those that are involved with BREATHING, and the maintenance of an immobile POSTURE.

Usually inert substances added to a prescription in order to provide suitable consistency to the dosage form. These include binders, matrix, base or diluent in pills, tablets, creams, salves, etc.

A class of enzymes that transfers phosphate groups and has a carboxyl group as an acceptor. EC 2.7.2.

Differential thermal analysis in which the sample compartment of the apparatus is a differential calorimeter, allowing an exact measure of the heat of transition independent of the specific heat, thermal conductivity, and other variables of the sample.

A clear, odorless, tasteless liquid that is essential for most animal and plant life and is an excellent solvent for many substances. The chemical formula is hydrogen oxide (H2O). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The condition that results from excessive loss of water from a living organism.

System established by the World Health Organization and the International Committee on Thrombosis and Hemostasis for monitoring and reporting blood coagulation tests. Under this system, results are standardized using the International Sensitivity Index for the particular test reagent/instrument combination used.

The continent lying around the South Pole and the southern waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It includes the Falkland Islands Dependencies. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p55)

An organization of cells into an organ-like structure. Organoids can be generated in culture. They are also found in certain neoplasms.

The process by which semen is kept viable outside of the organism from which it was derived (i.e., kept from decay by means of a chemical agent, cooling, or a fluid substitute that mimics the natural state within the organism).

Methods of preparing tissue for examination and study of the origin, structure, function, or pathology.

The non-genetic biological changes of an organism in response to challenges in its ENVIRONMENT.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Electron microscopy in which the ELECTRONS or their reaction products that pass down through the specimen are imaged below the plane of the specimen.

A class of porins that allow the passage of WATER and other small molecules across CELL MEMBRANES.

The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.

Procedures for collecting, preserving, and transporting of specimens sufficiently stable to provide accurate and precise results suitable for clinical interpretation.

Fluids composed mainly of water found within the body.

Wormlike or grublike stage, following the egg in the life cycle of insects, worms, and other metamorphosing animals.

Determination, by measurement or comparison with a standard, of the correct value of each scale reading on a meter or other measuring instrument; or determination of the settings of a control device that correspond to particular values of voltage, current, frequency or other output.

Direct contact of a cell with a neighboring cell. Most such junctions are too small to be resolved by light microscopy, but they can be visualized by conventional or freeze-fracture electron microscopy, both of which show that the interacting CELL MEMBRANE and often the underlying CYTOPLASM and the intervening EXTRACELLULAR SPACE are highly specialized in these regions. (From Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2d ed, p792)

Substances made up of an aggregation of small particles, as that obtained by grinding or trituration of a solid drug. In pharmacy it is a form in which substances are administered. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

Domesticated bovine animals of the genus Bos, usually kept on a farm or ranch and used for the production of meat or dairy products or for heavy labor.

Colloids formed by the combination of two immiscible liquids such as oil and water. Lipid-in-water emulsions are usually liquid, like milk or lotion. Water-in-lipid emulsions tend to be creams. The formation of emulsions may be aided by amphiphatic molecules that surround one component of the system to form MICELLES.

Chemistry dealing with the composition and preparation of agents having PHARMACOLOGIC ACTIONS or diagnostic use.

Relating to the size of solids.

A highly polar organic liquid, that is used widely as a chemical solvent. Because of its ability to penetrate biological membranes, it is used as a vehicle for topical application of pharmaceuticals. It is also used to protect tissue during CRYOPRESERVATION. Dimethyl sulfoxide shows a range of pharmacological activity including analgesia and anti-inflammation.

Anaerobic degradation of GLUCOSE or other organic nutrients to gain energy in the form of ATP. End products vary depending on organisms, substrates, and enzymatic pathways. Common fermentation products include ETHANOL and LACTIC ACID.

The lipid- and protein-containing, selectively permeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Presence of warmth or heat or a temperature notably higher than an accustomed norm.

Electron microscopy involving rapid freezing of the samples. The imaging of frozen-hydrated molecules and organelles permits the best possible resolution closest to the living state, free of chemical fixatives or stains.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

The ability of a substance to be dissolved, i.e. to form a solution with another substance. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in food and food products. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms: the presence of various non-pathogenic bacteria and fungi in cheeses and wines, for example, is included in this concept.

Any of the processes by which nuclear, cytoplasmic, or intercellular factors influence the differential control of gene action in fungi.

A basis of value established for the measure of quantity, weight, extent or quality, e.g. weight standards, standard solutions, methods, techniques, and procedures used in diagnosis and therapy.

A species of the genus SACCHAROMYCES, family Saccharomycetaceae, order Saccharomycetales, known as "baker's" or "brewer's" yeast. The dried form is used as a dietary supplement.

A strain of albino rat used widely for experimental purposes because of its calmness and ease of handling. It was developed by the Sprague-Dawley Animal Company.

The marking of biological material with a dye or other reagent for the purpose of identifying and quantitating components of tissues, cells or their extracts.

The affective response to an actual current external danger which subsides with the elimination of the threatening condition.

The concentration of osmotically active particles in solution expressed in terms of osmoles of solute per liter of solution. Osmolality is expressed in terms of osmoles of solute per kilogram of solvent.

Compounds formed by the joining of smaller, usually repeating, units linked by covalent bonds. These compounds often form large macromolecules (e.g., BIOPOLYMERS; PLASTICS).

Nanometer-sized particles that are nanoscale in three dimensions. They include nanocrystaline materials; NANOCAPSULES; METAL NANOPARTICLES; DENDRIMERS, and QUANTUM DOTS. The uses of nanoparticles include DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS and cancer targeting and imaging.

A technique applicable to the wide variety of substances which exhibit paramagnetism because of the magnetic moments of unpaired electrons. The spectra are useful for detection and identification, for determination of electron structure, for study of interactions between molecules, and for measurement of nuclear spins and moments. (From McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 7th edition) Electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy is a variant of the technique which can give enhanced resolution. Electron spin resonance analysis can now be used in vivo, including imaging applications such as MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING.

Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.

The unfavorable effect of environmental factors (stressors) on the physiological functions of an organism. Prolonged unresolved physiological stress can affect HOMEOSTASIS of the organism, and may lead to damaging or pathological conditions.

Drugs intended for human or veterinary use, presented in their finished dosage form. Included here are materials used in the preparation and/or formulation of the finished dosage form.

The species Oryctolagus cuniculus, in the family Leporidae, order LAGOMORPHA. Rabbits are born in burrows, furless, and with eyes and ears closed. In contrast with HARES, rabbits have 22 chromosome pairs.

The scattering of x-rays by matter, especially crystals, with accompanying variation in intensity due to interference effects. Analysis of the crystal structure of materials is performed by passing x-rays through them and registering the diffraction image of the rays (CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, X-RAY). (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The outer covering of the body that protects it from the environment. It is composed of the DERMIS and the EPIDERMIS.

Artificial, single or multilaminar vesicles (made from lecithins or other lipids) that are used for the delivery of a variety of biological molecules or molecular complexes to cells, for example, drug delivery and gene transfer. They are also used to study membranes and membrane proteins.