A rapid and convenient method for serial measurement of skin lesions

The widespread contamination of the environment with PCB, a compound used extensively by industry in hydraulic and heat transfer fluids as well as plasticizers and solvents in adhesives and sealants, has resulted in detectable tissue levels in a large portion of the human population, domestic animals, and wildlife. Intoxication with PCB produces severe hepatic necrosis, degeneration of lymphoid tissues and kidney, skin lesions, decreased reproductive performance, reduced feed efficiency, and decreased weight gain. PCB also has been reported to reduce the binding of thyroid hormone to serum proteins and enhance the peripheral metabolism of thyroxine with increased excretion of thyroxine-glucuronide in the bile (Bastomsky, Endocrinology 95: 1150-1155, 1974).The objectives of this investigation were (1) to investigate the histopathologic, histochemical, and ultrastructural changes in thyroid FC produced by the acute (4 week) and chronic (12 week) administration of low (50 ppm) and high (500 ppm) doses of PCB to rats, (2) to correlate these alterations to changes in serum immunoreactive thyroxine concentration, and (3) to investigate the persistence of the effects of PCB on the thyroid gland.

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Thickness and composition determinations from T.E.M. specimens using both x-ray and backscattered electron data

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100112816 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 576-577

Author(s):

M.D. Ball ◽

H. Lagace ◽

M.C. Thornton

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

Atomic Number ◽

Transmission Electron Microscope ◽

Convenient Method ◽

Flow Chart ◽

X Ray ◽

Intensity Measurements ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Electron Intensity ◽

Backscattered Electron

The backscattered electron coefficient η for transmission electron microscope specimens depends on both the atomic number Z and the thickness t. Hence for specimens of known atomic number, the thickness can be determined from backscattered electron coefficient measurements. This work describes a simple and convenient method of estimating the thickness and the corrected composition of areas of uncertain atomic number by combining x-ray microanalysis and backscattered electron intensity measurements.The method is best described in terms of the flow chart shown In Figure 1. Having selected a feature of interest, x-ray microanalysis data is recorded and used to estimate the composition. At this stage thickness corrections for absorption and fluorescence are not performed.

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Stereo imaging in the shadow electron microscope

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100107745 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 120-121

Author(s):

W. C. T. Dowell

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

Convenient Method ◽

Patent Application ◽

Standard Technique ◽

Stereo Imaging ◽

Stereo Images ◽

Specimen Height

Stereo imaging is not new to electron microscopy. Von Ardenne, who first published transmission pairs nearly forty hears ago, himself refers to a patent application by Ruska in 1934. In the early days of the electron microscope von Ardenne employed a pair of magnetic lenses to view untilted specimens but soon opted for the now standard technique of tilting the specimen with respect to the beam.In the shadow electron microscope stereo images can, of course, be obtained by tilting the specimen between micrographs. This obvious method suffers from the disadvantage that the magnification is very sensitive to small changes in specimen height which accompany tilting in the less sophisticated stages and it is also time consuming. A more convenient method is provided by horizontally displacing the specimen between micrographs. The specimen is not tilted and the technique is both simple and rapid, stereo pairs being obtained in less than thirty seconds.

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Rotary Beveling for In Situ Thin-Section Microscopy of Cell Cultures

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100099192 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

pp. 550-551

Author(s):

Dean A. Handley ◽

Jack T. Alexander ◽

Shu Chien

Keyword(s):

Cell Growth ◽

Cell Cultures ◽

Molecular Interactions ◽

Convenient Method ◽

Petri Dish ◽

Simple Method ◽

Thin Section Microscopy ◽

Thin Sectioning ◽

Organic Fluids

In situ preparation of cell cultures for ultrastructural investigations is a convenient method by which fixation, dehydration and embedment are carried out in the culture petri dish. The in situ method offers the advantage of preserving the native orientation of cell-cell interactions, junctional regions and overlapping configurations. In order to section after embedment, the petri dish is usually separated from the polymerized resin by either differential cryo-contraction or solvation in organic fluids. The remaining resin block must be re-embedded before sectioning. Although removal of the petri dish may not disrupt the native cellular geometry, it does sacrifice what is now recognized as an important characteristic of cell growth: cell-substratum molecular interactions. To preserve the topographic cell-substratum relationship, we developed a simple method of tapered rotary beveling to reduce the petri dish thickness to a dimension suitable for direct thin sectioning.

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