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Biomedical subjects

B Gunther

Publications and source records attributed to B Gunther.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Three-dimensional morphometry of mammalian cells. I. Diameters.

Three-dimensional measurements of eleven kinds of cells, obtained from serial sections of five different organs, excised from eleven adult mammals of different body sizes-from a 40 g mouse to a 450 kg cow-were made. In order to minimize technical errors all organs were submitted to standardized fixation and staining procedures. Twenty cell diameters (at the nuclear level) were measured in each of the 7 microns serial tissue section which were made in two planes, after a 90 degree rotation of the fixed and embedded organ specimens. The mean values of the cell diameter measurements were submitted to a cluster analysis by means of a computer program, to establish the cell type groups with similar morphometric characteristics. The dendrograms of the cell-type groupings were then compared with the results obtained by applying the traditional statistical analysis of the cell sizes (in micrometers) in the three dimensions of space, and also with the principal component analysis. With the three statistical methods we came to analogous conclusions. The empirical allometric exponents for the three cell diameters, when expressed independently as functions of body mass, are not significantly different from zero, and in consequence cell sizes are independent of body mass. The physiological meaning of the body-size-independence of the mean three cell diameters is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Physical bases for a triad of biological similarity theories.

The dimensional analysis of physics, based on the MLT-system (M = mass, L = length, T = time), can be applied to the living world, from mycoplasmas (10(-13) g) to the blue whales (10(8) g). Body mass (M), or body weight (W), are utilized as convenient reference systems, since they represent the integrated masses of all elementary particles--at the atomic level--which conform an organism. A triad of biological similarities (mechanical, biological, transport) have been previously described. Each similarity was based on two postulates, of which the first was common to all three, i.e., the constancy of body density; whereas the second postulates were specific for each of the three theories. In this study a physical foundation for these second postulates, based on three universal constants of nature, is presented, these are: 1) the acceleration of gravity (g = LT-2); 2) the velocity of light (c = LT-1); and 3) the mass-specific quantum (h/m = L2T-1). The realm of each of these biological similarities is the following: 1) the gravitational or mechanical similarity (where g = constant), deals mainly with the relationship between a whole organism and its environment, particularly with locomotion. The acceleration of gravity (g) is also one of the determining factors of the "potential" energy (E = m.g.H), where m is the mass, and H is the height above the reference level; 2) the electrodynamic similarity (formerly biological similarity), (c = constant), is able to quantitatively define the internal organization of an organism from both a morphological and a physiological point of view.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1984

Shear viscosity of the surfactant from dog lungs.

Surface viscosity (eta S) was measured in the pulmonary lavage fluid obtained from 40 mongrel dogs. Two experimental methods were employed to determine surface viscosity: a) Fourt's "torsion pendulum" procedure; and b) the "viscous traction" viscosimeter. A satisfactory correlation (r = 0.88) between these two methods was obtained. The mean value for surface viscosity of the pulmonary lavage fluid was 3.8 X 10(-2) surface-poise (s.p.) with the torsion pendulum procedure, and 4.3 X 10(-2) s.p. with the viscous traction viscosimeter. The implications of surface viscosity in pulmonary mechanics is discussed, as well as the effects of blood plasma addition to the pulmonary lavage fluid. A significant increase of surface viscosity could be observed when blood plasma was added to the hypophase, in concentrations greater than 0.1%. This increase in surface viscosity might be of importance when related to the augmented respiratory work during the evolution of pulmonary edema.

Animals↗