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Biomedical subjects

S A Reid

Publications and source records attributed to S A Reid.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

A new method of scanning electron microscopy for imaging biological tissues.

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) has proved of little value in the examination of material prepared for light microscopic histology. One of the chief reasons for this is that the secondary electron signal used for image formation in routine scanning microscopy derives from the surface of the specimen. In the case of histological material this surface is one which has been severely distorted by processing and cutting procedures. Light microscopy sections can be usefully studied in te SEM if the signal used to form the image derives from a considerable portion of the thickness of the section. Thus the backscattered electron (BSE) image has been successfully used in studying the distribution of dense material or densely staining components several micrometres deep to the surface of dried sections. Such sections are, however, usually mounted on low density (poorly BSE reflecting) non-transparent substrates such as beryllium or carbon, so that matching light microscopy of the same samples is not possible. We report here a method by which histological sections mounted on glass slides can be imaged in the SEM at a resolution higher than that obtained using conventional light microscopy. The method exploits the facts that the ordinary, cheap light microscope slide is strongly cathodoluminescent, yet the standard histological (7 micrometers) section is of such a mass thickness that it absorbs a significant proportion of electrons which energies (5-20 keV) usually used in biological SEM. Thus the measure of the glass cathodoluminescence signal is the measure of the electron flux passing through the specimen.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Tetracycline cathodoluminescence in bone, dentine and enamel.

The emission of light under electron bombardment (cathodoluminescence-CL) in an SEM has been demonstrated from tetracycline and tetracycline labelled areas of bone, dentine and secretory and maturation zone enamel. CL images could be compared with backscattered (BSE) and secondary (SE) electron images in (a) fresh, air-dried or freeze-dried samples taken without fixation at a short term after labelling: (b) polished block faces of fixed, plastic embedded tissue and (c) cut section surfaces cut through fixed and unfixed tissue. These results indicate a considerable future potential for the tetracycline-CL-SEM mode in experimental studies on teeth and histopathological and growth studies of bone.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

Simple collectors for cathodoluminescence in the SEM made from aluminium foil.

Inexpensive cathodoluminescence collectors for scanning electron microscopes can easily be made from aluminium foil fashioned as tubes which abut against the window of the photomultiplier at one end and shroud the specimen at the other. Their use in the study of fluorescent labelled mineralized tissues is illustrated.

Aluminum↗
PubMed1983

Presynaptic inhibition, EPSP amplitude, and motor-unit type in triceps surae motoneurons in the cat.

1. Composite group Ia excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) produced by heteronymous nerve stimulation were recorded from triceps surae motoneurons of barbiturate-anesthetized cats. Motoneuron rheobase, input resistance, and axonal conduction velocity were measured, and motor units were classified on the basis of the mechanical responses of their muscle units. 2. The amplitude of EPSPs recorded from 33 medial gastrocnemius (MG) motoneurons ranged from 0.6 to 4.3 mV. The mean EPSP amplitude differed among the major MG motor-unit types, increasing in the order fast twitch, fast fatiguing (FF); fast twitch, fatigue resistant (FR); slow twitch, fatigue resistant (S) (FF less than FR less than S). The amplitude of EPSPs recorded from 15 soleus motoneurons ranged from 0.3 to 3.4 mV, with a mean of 1.4 mV. 3. Presynaptic inhibition of EPSPs was produced by trains of conditioning volleys in the posterior biceps-semitendinosus (PBST) nerve. In 33 MG cells PBST conditioning stimulation reduced the amplitude of EPSPs by 11-50%, with a mean inhibition of 27%. The amplitude of EPSPs in 15 soleus motoneurons was decreased by 5-84%, with a mean inhibition of 37%. 4. When the magnitude of presynaptic inhibition was expressed as percent inhibition, there was no relation between presynaptic inhibition and either motor-unit type or the amplitude of the EPSP. However, when presynaptic inhibition was expressed as the absolute amount of inhibition in millivolts, the magnitude of inhibition was highly correlated with EPSP amplitude both across the entire triceps surae population (MG, lateral gastrocnemius, soleus) as well as within each muscle population. This correlation was also significant within the MG FF and FR motor-unit populations. 5. We conclude that EPSP amplitude and not motor-unit type is the major determinant of the magnitude of presynaptic inhibition. However, because of the effect of motor-unit type on EPSP amplitude, the net effect is that presynaptic inhibition increases in the order FF less than FR less than S.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

New methods for cathodoluminescence in the scanning electron microscope.

Experiments using the CL imaging mode to recognise osteoid in the polished, cut surfaces of bone biopsies embedded in PMMA led to the development of a number of new methods for contrast formation in CL images in the SEM. These involve: (1) enhancing or (2) reducing the CL signal by staining the specimen, (3) utilising the cathodoluminescence of glass microscope slides to produce images of histological sections mounted on glass so that features in the section which scatter the electron beam appear dark against a light background, and (4) enhancing the CL signal from PMMA so that features which are less penetrated by the scintillator show up dark against a bright background. Efforts to increase the efficiency of light collection resulted in the development of a new means for manufacturing reflector-cum-light guide CL detectors by wrapping aluminum foil around a wooden former. These detectors enshroud the specimen so that CL light can only escape to the photomultiplier window (or back up the final lens). A variety of such designs have proved more efficient than the conventional plastic light guides used as CL detectors. By enlarging the beam entry aperture, other SE and BSE detectors can be used simultaneously. Examples of the value of the CL mode in mineralised tissue research include the use of enhanced CL plastic embedding media to detect marrow space and of enhanced osteoid CL to detect unmineralised bone matrix; the use of tetracycline as a growth marker in pathological studies of bone and experimental studies with bone, dentine and enamel; the use of bisbenzamid to locate and count nuclei in osteoclasts, the hard tissue resorbtive cells; and the use of superficial stain absorption of auto-CL to locate stained material on tooth surfaces, with the view to monitor the efficiency of periodontal therapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Acute FeCl3-induced epileptogenic foci in cats: electrophysiological analyses.

Fifteen cats were rendered acutely epileptic via transpial iontophoresis of ferric ions. Extracellular electrical activity of individual cortical neurons was temporally correlated with ECoG epileptic spikes. Each unit's activity was characterized as excited, inhibited, or unaffected. The spatial coordinates of each neuron were logged, thereby generating a 3-dimensional activity map. Discharge patterns were further classified as bursting or non-bursting. A significantly increased population of inhibited cells was detected at radial distances greater than 3 mm from the iontophoretic site. This increase was at the expense of "unaffected-bursting" cells. Pathological discharge patterns, including units which fired in long-first-interval bursts, were common in the focus. A system was designed to electronically calculate single-unit firing probability before, during and after surface epileptiform spikes. An 8-12 Hz oscillation in firing probability level, time-locked to the epileptic spike, was observed in most excited-bursting units. Many of these findings in the ferric-induced epileptic focus accurately model the electrophysiological characteristics previously reported for human epileptic foci examined at neurosurgery.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Collagen synthesis in the muscle of developing chick embryos.

Radioactive protein was prepared from the leg muscle of chick embryos, 11, 14, 16 and 17 days old, each injected with radioactive proline and incubated for 30, 60 or 90 min afterwards. The radioactive protein was incubated with collagenase purified by chromatography on a Sephadex G-100 column. Under this condition, only collagen is digested into products soluble in trichloroacetic acid. The relative rate of collagen synthesis was determined by comparing the amount of radioactivity released into the supernatant fraction and that in the residue, by the method of Diegelmann & Peterkofsky [(1972) Dev. Biol. 28, 443--453]. The results show that the rate of collagen synthesis remains at approx. 10% of the rate of synthesis of other non-collagenous proteins during the development of chick embryonic muscle from 11 to 17 days. This suggests that the synthesis of collagen and that of other proteins are co-ordinately regulated at these stages of development.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

The Book of Job.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Bible↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Outcome for West syndrome following surgical treatment.

We report the case of an 18-month-old child with infantile spasms and a hypsarrhythmic electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern associated with a porencephalic cyst. Surgical removal of the cyst and its surrounding tissue was performed following failure of medical therapy. Postoperatively, the patient has been free of infantile spasms for 12 months and the EEG has normalized. He has been maintained on the same preoperative antiepileptic medications. This case suggests that surgical treatment is helpful in selected patients with infantile spasms and focal CNS lesions.

Brain↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Electrophysiological studies of cervical vagus nerve stimulation in humans: I. EEG effects.

Evidence from studies of experimental animals indicates that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve alters EEGs under certain stimulus parameters. We report EEG effects of electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in 9 patients with medically intractable seizures as part of a clinical trial of chronic vagal stimulation for control of epilepsy. The mechanism of action of the vagal antiepileptic effect is unknown, and we believed that analysis of electrophysiologic effects of vagal nerve stimulation would help elucidate the brain areas affected. The left vagus nerve in the neck was stimulated with a programmable implanted stimulator. Stimulation at various stimulus frequencies and amplitudes had no noticeable effect on EEG activity whether the patient was under general anesthesia, awake, or asleep, but vagus nerve stimulation may interrupt ongoing ictal EEG activity.

Adolescent↗