BL Flashcards
(377 cards)
What is the normal core temperature of the body?
36.5 degrees celsius to 37.5 degrees celsius
Below which temperature is someone considered to have hypothermia.
35 degrees celsius
How can you measure core temperature?
Accurate- place probe into the oesophagus, pulmonary artery and urinary bladder.
Good estimation- place probe in the rectum, oral cavity, axilla, forehead where the temporal artery is or external auditory canal.
What is pyrexia?
A high core body temperature. This can cause rigor (sudden exaggerated shaking) in adults or febrile seizures in children.
What is the role and main neurotransmitter in the parasympathetic system?
Rest and digest
Acetylcholine
What is the main role and neurotransmitter involved in the sympathetic nervous system?
Fight or flight
Noradrenaline
What is the main neurotransmitter in the somatic nervous system?
Acetylcholine
How are tissues prepared in order to be viewed by light microscopy?
Fixation- structure of tissue is preserved using formalin
Embedding medium- tissue is embedded in melted paraffin that sets hard when cooled so it allows it to be thinly sliced
Stain- H&E
What do haemotoxylin and eosin stain?
Haemotoxylin - basic so taken up by acidic components, stains nucleus blue strongly
Eosin- acidic so taken up by basic components, stains cytoplasm and extracellular matrix pink strongly
What are frozen sections and when are they used?
The tissue sample is freezed to make it solid. Inside a cryostat, a microtome cuts sections very thinly. The thin sections are stained. Pathological diagnosis may determine how surgery proceeds and this is a quick method to view tissues although technical quality is quite poor.
Give an example of how polarised light microscopy be used in the diagnosis of diseases.
Polarised light microscopy can be used to identify structures that are birefringent (can rotate the plane of polarised light).
Gout - monosodium urate crystals (MSU) show strong negative befringence
Pseudogout - calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals show weak positive befringence (CPPD)
Give an example where fluorescent microscopy can be used in medicine.
Direct and indirect immunofluorescence. Monoclonal antibodies bind to specific antigens acting as markers.
What kind of microscopy do CAT scans resemble the imaging process of?
Confocal microscopy which can be used for 3D visualisation of living specimens.
Describe autoradiography.
A radioactive marker is injected into a cell culture.
A histological section that contains target molecules is coated with photographic emulsion.
This enables the places where the radioactive marker has bound to be seen.
What is the difference in magnification and resolution between a light microscope and transmission electron microscope.
Light microscope, mag- 1000x res- 0.2micrometres
transmission electron microscope, mag-250,000x res-1nm
Why does a transmission electron microscope have a better resolution than a light microscope?
The beam of electrons used in a transmission electron microscope have a shorter wave length than light.
Which investigative technique can be used to view plasma membranes?
Freeze-fracture electron microscopy
The tissue sample is frozen. It is hit with the edge of a knife so the fracture line passes through the plasma membrane.
Which investigative technique would allow the filiform papillae on the surface of the tongue to be viewed?
Scanning electron microscopy
Which chemical technique does MRI scanning use?
NMR spectroscopy
Which cells in the body exist normally in single cell form?
Spermatazoa
Ova
Blood cells
What temperature and for how long are red blood cells packed?
At 6 degrees celsius for up to 42 days
How are cells attached to one another laterally?
Tight junctions- fused plasmalemma that forms a seal preventing water and other molecules from moving through
Desmosomes- found under tight junctions and strengthen them by proteins firmly adhering the cells to one another
Gap junctions- proteins called connexons form channels that create a direct connection between cells
What is the basement membrane?
The basement membrane is the structural site for overlying cells and underlying connective tissue.
What is the role of integrins in integrating cells into tissues?
- attachment of the cell cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix
- signal transduction from the extracellular matrix to the cell, they can sense whether adhesion has occurred