During fetal development, the thyroid originates in the back of the tongue before migrating to the front of the neck, just below the larynx. The largest gland in the neck, a normal thyroid is a firm, reddish brown, smooth gland and weighs less than one ounce and is made up of two large lobes that lie along either side of the trachea. These lobes are joined together by a narrow band of thyroid t...

Human red blood cells (RBCs) have remarkable deformability, squeezing through narrow capillaries as small as three microns in diameter without any damage. Several pathological conditions, including malaria, sickle cell disease (SCD), and diabetes can alter the shape and deformability of circulating RBCs. Recent work demonstrates how new computational and analytical models can reveal the ways in...

We use a local density functional theory in the square gradient approximation to explore the properties of critical nuclei for the liquid-vapor transition of van der Waals fluids in cylindrical capillaries. The proposed model allows us to investigate the effect of pore size, surface field, and supersaturation on the behavior of the system. Our calculations predict the existence of at least thre...

During physical exertion the consumption rate increases and some cells suffer from the lack of oxygen. The time-wise evolution of hypoxia is analyzed mathematically under the condition the perfusion of each capillary is constant. The domain used contains multiple non-homogeneous capillaries of different solute out. Cells surrounding capillaries may consume or preserve more oxygen than are neces...

The pathway followed by macromolecules across the wall of visceral capillaries has been studied by using a set of tracers of graded sizes, ranging in diameter from 100 A (ferritin) to 300 A (glycogen). Polysaccharide particles, i.e. dextran 75 (mol wt approximately 75,000; diam approximately 125 A), dextran 250 (mol wt 250,000; diam approximately 225 A), shellfish glycogen (diam approximately 2...

The number of perfused capillaries in skeletal muscle varies with muscle activation. With increasing activation, muscle fibers are recruited as motor units consisting of widely dispersed fibers, whereas capillaries are recruited as groups called microvascular units (MVUs) that supply several adjacent fibers. In this study, a theoretical model was used to examine the consequences of this spatial...

A new velocimeter for measurements in microscopic regions is presented. A common charge coupled device (CCD) has been used as spatial filter for one-component velocity measurements. The characteristics of this sensor are investigated and first application results presented.