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Query: UMLS:C0729233 (Thoracic)
 6,478 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A detailed morphological study was performed to localize the probable sites of connections between two identified populations of interneurons (ventral giant interneurons and type-A thoracic interneurons) in the cockroach. Type-A thoracic interneurons (TIAS) appear to play an important role in orienting the cockroach during wind-mediated escape. However, their large number, approximately 100 neurons, precludes analyzing each cell's role electrophysiologically. The TIAS are characterized by a prominent branch located on one or both sides of the ventral median (VM) region of the thoracic ganglion in which their soma resides. The presence of this ventral median branch can be used to predict connectivity with left or right ventral giant interneurons (vGIs) (Ritzmann and Pollack, 1988) and is correlated with the TIA's directional response to wind (Westin, Ritzmann, and Goddard, 1988), suggesting that this is the locus of synaptic connection. Two approaches were employed to address this hypothesis. Morphological overlap of differentially labelled cells (ethidium bromide, Lucifer Yellow) was examined at the light microscopic level to locate areas of possible synaptic contact. Experiments were also performed in which one-half of the vGI input to the TIAs was surgically removed early in postembryonic development. Although no changes in the overall branching pattern were observed, the VM branches on the operated side were significantly shorter than were those on the unoperated side. Thoracic interneurons that do not receive inputs from vGIs were unaffected by this surgery. The data reported here thereby confirm previous observations by localizing the vGI inputs specifically to the VM branch, and provide a morphological cue for predicting connectivity and function.
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PMID:Localization of ventral giant interneuron connections to the ventral median branch of thoracic interneurons in the cockroach. 191 68

Tips of sacral, lumbar and thoracic vertebrae were sampled from 67 Chinese Yellow steer carcasses to determine relationships of the mineral composition in tips of vertebrae to the ossification degree as well as the dental age. Thoracic buttons were taken from another 11 Chinese Yellow steer carcasses to study their microscopic changes with age. Percentages of ash, calcium and phosphorus in thoracic buttons, on a fresh weight basis, increased with increasing ossification degree (R(2)=0.9815, 0.9743, 0.9817, respectively) and dental age (R(2)=0.9496, 0.9455, 0.9209, respectively), but those in tips of lumbar and sacral vertebrae varied little (P>0.05). Based on the same levels of ash percent in thoracic buttons, a corresponding relationship between the ossification degree and the dental age was observed: thoracic buttons did not ossify when the dental age was under 24 months; and 10%, 30%, and 40% of thoracic buttons ossified at the dentition-based age of 36, 50, and 60 months. Observations by scanning electron microscopy indicated that cartilages of Chinese Yellow steer thoracic buttons began to ossify at approximately 24 months and ossified completely at 84 months. The present study could be useful to improve the accuracy of age estimation for Chinese Yellow steers in the Chinese beef grading system.
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PMID:The mineral composition and microscopic changes in thoracic buttons of Chinese Yellow steer with age. 2206 44