A Morphological and Stereological Study on Cervical Segment of Spinal Cord of Quails.

In this study, volume densities of white and grey matters of cervical segments of spinal cords of quail were investigated stereologically. In both sexes, mature, six quails were used as material of this study. All animals were fixed by perfusing in 10% buffered formalin. Tissue specimens were obtained from cervical spinal cords. These tissue specimens were cut every fiftieth section at 5 µm thickness by a microtome. And mean six or seven sections were examined from every block by this method at microscope. After that, these sections were stained by haematoxylin eosin and photographed. Densities of volumes of all tissues of cervical segments of whole spinal cords and white and grey matters were calculated with principle of Cavalieri. As a result, total volume of spinal cord, volumes of white and grey matters of cervical segment and volume rates of white and grey matters were calculated.

Veins of the thoracic limb of the Van cat.

The drainage of the thoracic limb of the Van cat was performed by the superficial and deep vein systems. The superficial system was constituted by the cephalic vein and its branches. The deep vein system was constituted by the axillary vein and its branches. The two vein systems anastomosed with each other at various points along their courses. The cephalic vein emerged from the external jugular vein together with the superficial cervical vein. The axillary vein continued the subclavian vein. It ran caudoventrally and gave off the subscapular vein, at the level of the shoulder joint, then gave off two independent branches, which were the external thoracic veins. Then the rest of the vessel continued as the brachial vein. The thoracodorsal vein was formed by the communicate ramus vein which arose between the subscapular vein and the brachial vein. The cranial circumflex humeral vein arose double from the subscapular vein. One of them anastomosed with the deep brachial vein and the other one drained the biceps and the deep pectoral muscles. The cranial interosseous vein from the caudal aspects of the brachial vein and passed the interosseous space of the antebrachium then ran to the lateral aspect of the forearm. The caudal interosseous vein arose from the ulnar vein (in two specimens) and the median vein together with the ulnar vein (in two specimens) or independently from the median vein (in one specimen). Although many similarities were found in the veins of the thoracic limb of the Van cat as compared with the domestic cat, some significant differences were noted in the origin, course, anastomosing and ramification of veins of the thoracic limb.

Postnatal development of nitric oxide synthase type 1 expression in the lumbar spinal cord of the rat: a comparison with the induction of c-fos in response to peripheral application of mustard oil.

The distribution of the neuronal isoform of the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (type 1) has been investigated in the lumbar spinal cords of neonatal rats (2-20 days old). Large multipolar neurones were present from day 2 around the central canal, in a band across the neck of the dorsal horn and at the thoracic level in the intermediolateral cell column, whereas staining was absent from laminae II. By 20 days the laminae II staining was similar to that found in the adult. NOS expression in lamina II paralleled the development of c-fos expression in this lamina in response to peripheral application of mustard oil.