Casts of hepatic blood vessels: a comparison of the microcirculation of the penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, with some common laboratory animals.
(1/2078)
Latex casts of the hepatic blood vessels of the penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, and of some common laboratory animals were compared. There was general similarity between the different species, but the portal venous and hepatic arterial systems of the penguin were simpler than those of other species. Measurements were made of the volume and length of portal veins and it appears that the portal venous system is capable of being a more efficient blood reservoir in the penguin than in other species studied. The peribiliary plexus was especially well formed in the penguin and was drained by long veins which usually joined portal venous branches. Some of the long veins drained directly into the hepatic venous tree: these translobular veins were more prominent than in mammals. Anastomoses between hepatic artery and portal vein were not present in penguins, and the supply to the sinusoids appeared to be separate. The morphology of small hepatic veins of all the species appeared to be similar. (+info)
Acinar flow irreversibility caused by perturbations in reversible alveolar wall motion.
(2/2078)
Mixing associated with "stretch-and-fold" convective flow patterns has recently been demonstrated to play a potentially important role in aerosol transport and deposition deep in the lung (J. P. Butler and A. Tsuda. J. Appl. Physiol. 83: 800-809, 1997), but the origin of this potent mechanism is not well characterized. In this study we hypothesized that even a small degree of asynchrony in otherwise reversible alveolar wall motion is sufficient to cause flow irreversibility and stretch-and-fold convective mixing. We tested this hypothesis using a large-scale acinar model consisting of a T-shaped junction of three short, straight, square ducts. The model was filled with silicone oil, and alveolar wall motion was simulated by pistons in two of the ducts. The pistons were driven to generate a low-Reynolds-number cyclic flow with a small amount of asynchrony in boundary motion adjusted to match the degree of geometric (as distinguished from pressure-volume) hysteresis found in rabbit lungs (H. Miki, J. P. Butler, R. A. Rogers, and J. Lehr. J. Appl. Physiol. 75: 1630-1636, 1993). Tracer dye was introduced into the system, and its motion was monitored. The results showed that even a slight asynchrony in boundary motion leads to flow irreversibility with complicated swirling tracer patterns. Importantly, the kinematic irreversibility resulted in stretching of the tracer with narrowing of the separation between adjacent tracer lines, and when the cycle-by-cycle narrowing of lateral distance reached the slowly growing diffusion distance of the tracer, mixing abruptly took place. This coupling of evolving convective flow patterns with diffusion is the essence of the stretch-and-fold mechanism. We conclude that even a small degree of boundary asynchrony can give rise to stretch-and-fold convective mixing, thereby leading to transport and deposition of fine and ultrafine aerosol particles deep in the lung. (+info)
Golgi structure in three dimensions: functional insights from the normal rat kidney cell.
(3/2078)
Three-dimensional reconstructions of portions of the Golgi complex from cryofixed, freeze-substituted normal rat kidney cells have been made by dual-axis, high-voltage EM tomography at approximately 7-nm resolution. The reconstruction shown here ( approximately 1 x 1 x 4 microm3) contains two stacks of seven cisternae separated by a noncompact region across which bridges connect some cisternae at equivalent levels, but none at nonequivalent levels. The rest of the noncompact region is filled with both vesicles and polymorphic membranous elements. All cisternae are fenestrated and display coated buds. They all have about the same surface area, but they differ in volume by as much as 50%. The trans-most cisterna produces exclusively clathrin-coated buds, whereas the others display only nonclathrin coated buds. This finding challenges traditional views of where sorting occurs within the Golgi complex. Tubules with budding profiles extend from the margins of both cis and trans cisternae. They pass beyond neighboring cisternae, suggesting that these tubules contribute to traffic to and/or from the Golgi. Vesicle-filled "wells" open to both the cis and lateral sides of the stacks. The stacks of cisternae are positioned between two types of ER, cis and trans. The cis ER lies adjacent to the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment, which consists of discrete polymorphic membranous elements layered in front of the cis-most Golgi cisterna. The extensive trans ER forms close contacts with the two trans-most cisternae; this apposition may permit direct transfer of lipids between ER and Golgi membranes. Within 0.2 microm of the cisternae studied, there are 394 vesicles (8 clathrin coated, 190 nonclathrin coated, and 196 noncoated), indicating considerable vesicular traffic in this Golgi region. Our data place structural constraints on models of trafficking to, through, and from the Golgi complex. (+info)
In vitro models of intracranial arteriovenous fistulas for the evaluation of new endovascular treatment materials.
(4/2078)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to create and test an in vitro model of intracranial arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) that simulates the geometry of human vasculature and allows realistic testing of devices used in endovascular therapy. METHODS: The models were derived from corrosion casts of the main cervicocranial arteries and veins obtained from two nonfixed human specimens. Wax copies of the casts were produced and combined to create complex models simulating various types of intracranial AVFs. Wax assemblies were embedded with liquid silicone solidified into transparent blocks containing, after wax evacuation, hollow reproductions of the original vascular trees. The models were connected to a pulsatile pump and their compatibility with various imaging techniques and endovascular treatment materials was evaluated. RESULTS: The models were compatible with digital subtraction angiography, CT, MR imaging, and transcranial Doppler sonography. They provided a realistic endovascular environment for the simulation of interventional neuroradiologic procedures. CONCLUSION: Anatomically accurate and reproducible in vitro models of intracranial AVFs provide a valuable method for evaluating new endovascular treatment materials and for teaching purposes. (+info)
Comparing in vitro, in situ, and in vivo experimental data in a three-dimensional model of mammalian cochlear mechanics.
(5/2078)
Normal mammalian hearing is refined by amplification of the motion of the cochlear partition. This partition, comprising the organ of Corti sandwiched between the basilar and tectorial membranes, contains the outer hair cells that are thought to drive this amplification process. Force generation by outer hair cells has been studied extensively in vitro and in situ, but, to understand cochlear amplification fully, it is necessary to characterize the role played by each of the components of the cochlear partition in vivo. Observations of cochlear partition motion in vivo are severely restricted by its inaccessibility and sensitivity to surgical trauma, so, for the present study, a computer model has been used to simulate the operation of the cochlea under different experimental conditions. In this model, which uniquely retains much of the three-dimensional complexity of the real cochlea, the motions of the basilar and tectorial membranes are fundamentally different during in situ- and in vivo-like conditions. Furthermore, enhanced outer hair cell force generation in vitro leads paradoxically to a decrease in the gain of the cochlear amplifier during sound stimulation to the model in vivo. These results suggest that it is not possible to extrapolate directly from experimental observations made in vitro and in situ to the normal operation of the intact organ in vivo. (+info)
Vascular segments in the human spleen.
(6/2078)
Corrosion casts of human splenic arterial trees revealed the presence of two segments-a superior, and an inferior - in 84% of cases and three segments - a superior, a middle and an inferior - in 16% of cases. These segments are separated by avascular planes. (+info)
Concentration and second-gas effects in the water analogue.
(7/2078)
The water analogue provides a visual model of the process of anaesthetic exchange. In the standard version, a single pipe connects the mouth container to the lung container and the conductance of this mouth-lung pipe is proportional to alveolar ventilation. This implies that inspired and expired ventilations are equal. In fact, with high inspired concentrations of nitrous oxide, early rapid uptake of gas by solution leads to a substantial difference between inspired and expired ventilation which in turn leads to concentration and second-gas effects. It is shown that by representing inspired and expired ventilations separately, and keeping one of them constant while varying the other to compensate for rapid uptake, concentration and second-gas effects are reproduced in the water analogue. Other means of reproducing the effects are reported but we believe that the first method is the most realistic and the most appropriate for teaching. (+info)
Stereologic methods and their application in kidney research.
(8/2078)
Stereologic methods are used to obtain quantitative information about three-dimensional structures based on observations from section planes or--to a limited degree--projections. Stereologic methods, which are used in biologic research and especially in the research of normal and pathologic kidneys, will be discussed in this review. Special emphasis will be placed on modern stereologic methods, free of assumptions of the structure, size, and shape, etc., so-called UFAPP (unbiased for all practical purposes) stereologic methods. The basic foundation of all stereology, sampling, will be reviewed in relation to most of the methods discussed. Estimation of error variances and some of the basic problems in stereology will be reviewed briefly. Finally, a few comments will be made about the future directions for stereology in kidney research. (+info)