This paper describes the development and evaluation of a series of computer assisted learning (CAL) packages on cell biology produced for an undergraduate nursing course. The CAL packages were based on the material originally delivered in Kindermann's slide practical classes. The decision to convert this teaching material into CAL packages was taken for a number of reasons, but mainly in response to student evaluations and lack of equipment and staff resources needed to adequately deliver the sessions. Student feedback showed that CAL was preferred to the slide classes. Two studies were carried out to compare the CAL method of delivery with the conventional method using an experimental design. Students taught using CAL felt more confident that they would be able to use the material they had learnt if required as a basis for future work. The distributions rating 'how necessary was the contribution of a teacher in the session' were skewed towards the 'essential' end of the scale for the slide group but towards the 'unnecessary' end for the CAL group. Learning effectiveness was not compromised by the introduction of CAL, even though this meant that no lecturer was on hand to deal with questions.

British Journal of Educational TechnologyVolume 31, Issue 3 p. 257-259 Development and evaluation of a series of cal modules on cell biology for undergraduate nursing students Heather Wharrad, Heather Wharrad Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorChristine Kent, Christine Kent Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorNick Allcock, Nick Allcock Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorBarry Wood, Barry Wood Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this author Heather Wharrad, Heather Wharrad Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorChristine Kent, Christine Kent Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorNick Allcock, Nick Allcock Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this authorBarry Wood, Barry Wood Postgraduate Division of Nursing, School of Nursing, Medical School, Queen's Medical CentreSearch for more papers by this author First published: 16 December 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8535.00159Citations: 4AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume31, Issue3July 2000Pages 257-259 RelatedInformation

The long-term effects of neonatal capsaicin were studied in left and right dorsal root ganglia (T10) from control and capsaicin-treated groups of Wistar rats. At 12 hours post partum, 5 females per group were injected subcutaneously with capsaicin or vehicle solution and killed at 6 months of age. Tissues were perfusion-fixed, embedded in resin and serially sectioned. A Nissl stain was used to distinguish between A and B neurons and systematic random sampling schemes were employed to obtain stereological estimates of numbers of neurons and mean volumes of their perikarya. Numbers were calculated from ganglion volumes (estimated via the Cavalieri principle) and neuron packing densities (estimated using physical disectors). Mean perikaryal volumes were calculated from packing densities and volume densities (estimated by point counting). Data were analysed to isolate main and interaction effects of neuron subtype, laterality and treatment. There was no evidence of lateral asymmetry or interaction effects. Control ganglia contained 3320 (coefficient of variation, CV, 8%) neurons. Most (73%) were B cells with a mean volume of 13,100 µm 3 (CV 17%) of which the nucleus accounted for 1,800 µm 3 (CV 18%). About 22% were A cells with a mean volume of 79,800 µm 3 (CV 24%) and a nucleus of 6,100 µm 3 (CV 26%). After capsaicin, over half the original population of cells was destroyed and B cell loss was significantly greater than that of A cells (about 80% of all cells lost were B cells). The mean size of A cells was greater after capsaicin due to selective loss of smaller cells and a greater volume of cytoplasm. B cell perikaryal volume was not affected but nuclear volume declined. The findings show that capsaicin destruction of peripheral sensory neurons is bilaterally symmetrical. In general, smaller neurons are selectively destroyed but this operates differently in A and B cells. It is size-dependent in A cells but size-independent (possibly random) in B cells.

OBJECTIVES:To compare collagen, elastin and smooth muscle contents of varicose and control long saphenous veins.DESIGN:Collagen, elastin and muscle were estimated stereologically using random sampling and histological staining.MATERIALS:Varicose vein samples were collected from nine patients (mean age 52 years, range 34-64 years) undergoing vein stripping, sample sites being saphenofemoral junction and knee. Control samples were taken from five patients (mean age 58 years, range 38-76 years) presenting for femoral-popliteal bypass at equivalent levels.METHODS:Veins were fixed, sectioned transversely, and stained with Picric Acid Sirius Red. Analysis of samples was performed using point and intersection counting on vertically projected images.RESULTS:Using two way analysis of variance tests, varicose saphenous veins had significantly larger wall areas (p < 0.01) and higher amounts of collagen (p < 0.01). Collagen content and wall area were significantly larger proximally compared to distally in both control and varicose veins (p < 0.05) with a higher content of smooth muscle and elastin in varicose veins proximally compared to distally (p < 0.05). There was no difference in wall thickness or elastin content between the two groups.CONCLUSIONS:This suggests that varicose veins are a dynamic response to venous hypertension and are not thin walled structures as previously thought.

The rat adrenal medulla is immature at birth, composed of phaeochromoblasts and undifferentiated chromaffin cells, but by 7 d postnatally morphologically distinct adrenaline-storing (A) and noradrenaline-storing (NA) cells can be distinguished in the adult proportions of approximately 80-85% A and 15-20% NA cells. Glucocorticoid hormones are known to play an important role in the initial expression and maintenance of phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase (PNMT), the enzyme characteristic of A cells. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of glucocorticoids on the establishment of the A and NA cell phenotype in vivo during the first postnatal week. Neonatal rats were treated from postnatal d 1 to 7 either with ACTH to increase circulating levels of glucocorticoids or with aminoglutethimide to reduce blood glucocorticoids. On postnatal d 7 the volume fractions of A and NA cells in the adrenal medulla were estimated and the amounts of stored adrenaline and noradrenaline determined by HPLC and compared with untreated controls. Adrenaline levels were increased following ACTH treatment and there was an apparent decrease after aminoglutethimide which was not statistically significant. There was cytological evidence of the effects of ACTH and aminoglutethimide on the adrenal cortex but no resultant effect on medullary cell morphology. A cells remained predominant with NA cells making up approximately 15% of chromaffin cells, suggesting that any effects of altered glucocorticoid levels were confined to a modulation of adrenaline synthesis by a morphologically unchanged chromaffin cell population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Protein gene product (PGP9.5) has been detected by means of immunocytochemistry in the rat fetus in intra- and extra-adrenal chromaffin cells (E12.5), pancreatic islet cells (E12.5), anterior pituitary cells (E14.5), carotid body chief cells (E15.5), thyroid C cells (E17.5) and respiratory neuroendocrine bodies (E15.5). It was expressed early in ontogenesis coincidental with other known morphological and biochemical signs of differentiation.

We have examined the immunolocalisation of the protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 during neurogenesis in the rat embryo. PGP9.5 was first present at 11.5 days gestation (E11.5): all morphologically recognisable nerve cell bodies and fibres were immunoreactive. In routinely processed, wax-embedded tissues, using a standard immunocytochemical technique, PGP9.5 polyclonal antibody specifically demonstrated the developing nervous system and primitive adrenal chromaffin cells.

The localisation of chromogranins A and B, met-enkephalin-arg6-gly7-leu8 (met-enk 8) and protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) in the adrenal medulla and extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue has been studied in the developing rat by immunogold-silver staining. In the adult rat adrenal the cytoplasm of all medullary chromaffin cells showed a positive response with chromogranin A and B; in each case occasional groups of cells with a low reactivity that may have been NA cells were seen. Chromogranin A was first detected in adrenal medullary and extra-adrenal chromaffin cells at 18 days of gestation whilst chromogranin B was not detected in animals younger than 7 days. In 15 days old animals the adrenal medullary response to A and B was of the same intensity as that seen in the adult. Less than 1% of adult medullary chromaffin cells were responsive to met-enk 8 staining and medullary cells were unreactive in the fetus, with only extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue responding prenatally. During the first postnatal week immunoreactive cells appeared in the adrenal medulla in considerably greater proportions than in the adult gland. In contrast, positively stained nerve terminals associated with chromaffin cells and abundant in the adult adrenal were not detected during the first week of life. Immunoreactive nerve terminals were first seen early in the second week of life at a time when positive chromaffin cells were becoming less common. PGP 9.5 was located in all chromaffin cells of the adult adrenal and was readily detected in chromaffin cells in the adrenal and in extra-adrenal locations of the earliest stage examined (E16). Our findings suggest that the ontogenesis of the chromogranin-like immunostaining reflects the maturation of chromaffin granules and the PGP 9.5 immunostaining detected a protein common to cells of neuronal origin and expressed at an early stage of differentiation. The reciprocal relationship between the presence of enkephalins in chromaffin cells and in their presynaptic terminals merits further investigation.

An autoradiographic study was performed on the effects of hydrocortisone, reserpine, propranolol and phentolamine on the uptake of tritiated amines by adrenal medullary cells of the mouse. Oral feeding of hydrocortisone had no significant effect on the normal uptake pattern of dopamine, noradrenaline or adrenaline by medullary cells of different type (A cells or NA cells) or location (marginal or central), although the overall amounts taken up were markedly reduced. Handling the animals led to similar reductions in the uptake of all three amines and was thus clearly shown to be the important factor in this effect. Reserpine reduced the uptake of [3H] noradrenaline to 25 % of the control value although the relative distribution remained unchanged. Propranolol and phentolamine had no observed effect on [3H] noradrenaline uptake. These results are discussed in the light of the previously reported action of ACTH in reversing the effects of hypophysectomy on medullary amine uptake (Hirano and Kobayashi 1978), and it is concluded that ACTH must exert this effect directly on the adrenal medulla rather than through the secretion of adrenal corticosteroids. It is also suggested that reserpine acts, as in neurons, by blocking amine uptake into intracellular granules rather than by blocking uptake into the cell itself.

Light-microscopic autoradiographs of the adrenal medulla at various intervals after the intravenous injection of [3H] 5-HTP, [3H] 5-HT, [3H] noradrenaline and [3H] adrenaline have been studied. The distribution of silver grains following [3H] 5-HTP uptake was found to be uniform over each of the two main cell populations, adrenaline-storing (A) cells and noradrenaline-storing (NA) cells in the adrenal medulla, but A cells were twice as active as NA cells in incorporating the isotope, a situation very similar to that found after [3H] dopa uptake. 5-HT administration resulted in a pattern resembling the distribution of [3H] noradrenaline uptake, with A cells being 4 or 5 times more active than NA cells and a gradient of activity from the periphery of the medulla inwards. However, the time-course for the loss of radioactivity was not the same for both amines: levels of 5-HT activity were not significantly reduced after one week whereas the degree of [3H] noradrenaline labelling after one week was less than 10% of that at one hour. Thus 5-HT may be bound to sites in the adrenal medulla normally occupied by noradrenaline but it would appear that the release mechanism is different. There was no evidence of 5-HT uptake by adrenal nerve endings.