Macrophages in a Connective Tissue Spread: Acid Phosphotase Rxn

Macrophages (shown in the connective tissue stain above) eat things. If skeletal muscle cells were the Survivor contestants, Lacrimal gland cells the bachelor contestants, and Bartholin cells (uh, google it) the Jersey Shore cast members of the human body, Macrophages would be the biggest loser contestants (pre-show and post-show bounce back). They eat and eat and eat. I drew some teeth on this dalmation hoping it would make him look really hungry. Then, I wasnt sure it would come off so I surrounded him with jelly filled doughnuts. The jelly is not seen in the drawing because the donuts haven't been biten into and the drawing is B&W. Anyways, I know all of you 21st century freaks are so damn skeptical of anything B&W (way to ruin it for all of us Hitchcock) that you might suspect my jelly was actually chocolate syrup. So, to maintain the trust we have built this past week, I left the doughnuts unopened. I do promise,  though, that there is jelly inside.

Protoplasmic Astrocyte; H&E

Well this is embarrassing. I drew this whole doodle before I realized it actually looked nothing like the astrocyte (thats a nerve cell for all of you people who have lives and dont care about slides, things you cant see with the human eye, chemical staining, and, uh, the mysteries of the universe).  So, to compensate, I drew a few dark splotches. I hope they connect the pictures for you. If not, I hope you read this caption before you bothered to look at the photos. Hmm. I guess that, unless you have some sort of weird sort of dyslexia, that is unlikely. Maybe I should have just crossed my fingers and hoped for some sort of The Emperors New Clothes type effect here...

Secondary ossification center; H&E

Bones grow longways (interstitial growth) at secondary ossification centers like the one shown on this slide. And, despite what your mothers might have you believe (memories of me crying with milk dripping down my chin as my mother stands over me with a wooden spoon and a tape measure come to mind)-- bones grow quite slowly and even gallons of milk will have no immediate results. In fact, if it was a race, this nice little snail I drew would win every time. 

Smooth Muscle. H&E

Exam done. This is smooth muscle. Exam did not go so smoothly. The picture of me lying utterly exhausted in bed is deceptive. My feet are much smaller in real life and I am not smiling right now. 

Epithelium, H&E

I should be studying epithelium right now. Instead, I am dreaming of flying. Spring break to Tunisia?

Exam Tomorrow. Crap. H&E

I take my joint histology/physiology midterm tomorrow. I have studied 8+ hours a day (ok, well thats a lie, but it makes me seem much more clever than this pathetic little childlike doodle makes me look) since Monday. Fifty-six hours of studying, however, does not necessarily guarantee a passing grade. Likewise, an elephant's size does not guarantee a victory in every Animal Kingdom smackdown (especially against an aligator with teeth as sharp as this one!) Or is this a crocodile? Gosh, I can not even identify my own drawings...

Stereocilia on simple columnar epithelia, H&E

 

This is a H&E stain of epithelial cells from the penis. I cant remember if it is a section from the ductus deferens or the epididymis, but I doubt even you men know the difference so lets leave it at that. The wispy bits at the top are sterocilia, which aid in secretion and absorption by increasing cell surface area. The picture I drew of the elephants below is almost entirely unrelated. Well, I guess the elephants' trunks are a bit phallic.

Connective Tissue, H&E

This is a spread of connective tissue stained with H&E and Azure. Seen here are some thin elastin fibers and granulitic macrophages. The macrophages help rid the body of worn out cells and debris, and aid in immune response. Although they are usually angels of the immune system, they can sometimes be corrupted by immune system diseases and used for evil. This happens in some cancers, HIV, atherosclerosis, and tuberculosis. It is snowing out so I drew the angel singing Christmas carols. Wikipedia, however, does not say if there is any relationship between macrophages and musical talent. I guess it is possible.

Fetal long bone, ?

This is a fetal long bone. Four parts of the bone are shown. At the top is the epiphysis, or the rounded end of the bone. Next is the metaphysis which includes the growth plate, or the epiphyseal plate. This is the part of the fetal bone that grows and makes babies taller and taller every day. At the bottom of this slide is the diaphysis, or the long bone midsection. I am not sure what this stain is but it is very orange, like the color of a carrot. If I did not know what this picture was, I would definitely mistake it for an oft used, stained, carrot grater. I grew up using one that looked like this. If you are interested, you can probably find a similar one on Amazon.

Serous Glands, H&E

Shown is a serous gland stained with H&E. These types of glands are found in salivary glands, sweat glands, and tear ducks. On this slide, the gland is secreting hormones in vesicles. This is called apocrine secretion. Although a giraffe's spots look like tiny vesicles, they do not transport anything. I think they are mostly used for camouflage. But, I also read (on wikipedia) that the splotches serve as "thermal windows" where sweat glands, made of serous glands like those shown above, congregate. I kinda think the serous gland slide looks like a giraffe's head with vesicle-googly-eyes. But its late and I am tired. 

Sympathetic ganglion, H&E

This is a sympathetic motor ganglion stained with a Hemotoxylin and Eosin stain. There are a lot of little structures labeled on the picture- but they are a bit too complicated to explain here. If you email me I could tell you if I had time. You could also google them. Basically, though, a ganglion is a place where nerves come together and cell bodies are packed together. And, just like when a pufferfish blows up to intimidate predators, ganglia warn the body about impending danger through the flight or fight response. The pufferfish in this picture definitely looks ready to fight. But, more importantly, like the neuron on this slide, the fish is unshaven.

Spinal Cord Neuron, Kluver-Barrera

This is a neuron (a nerve cell) in the spinal cord that is stained with the Kluver-Barrera technique. You can clearly see the nucleus and dark stained nucleolus in the center of the cell. Labeled D and A are the dendrite and axon which, respectively, serve as the entrance and exit of electrical neural excitations, or impulses. Like donkeys, who kick up their hind legs when bothered, nerve cells get excited very easily. There are 1000 billion neurons in the human body. I don't know how many neurons there are in a donkey.