Physiology lab (Biology 270, University of Missouri - Columbia)
Prof: Joel Maruniak
Instructional lab coordinator: Richard Daniel
Monday TAs: Phil Stepp and Lindsey Vansandt
Photos and web site: Bill Stark (Saint Louis University)

Summary. There were 5 labs on vertebrate animals, 2 on invertebrates, 4 on humans, and 2 problem based learning

Crayfish behavior lab (Sept. 8, 2003)

After icing the crayfish, the lab tech made various lesions in the ventral nerve

Students get control and lesioned animals and test for behaviors like this escape response

Reproductive endocrinology (Sept. 15, 2003)

Students anesthetize male mice with IP (intraperitoneal) Nembutal

The ventral view is shown. Students sterilize and start surgery.

Students locate, ligate and remove each testicle

For this survival surgery, wound clips are used

Problem based learning lab on neuromuscular disorders

Each group was given a patient's initial information for a disease such as Parkinson's disease or myasthenia gravis. Following certain rules, students asked the patient questions or asked for certain test results. The TAs had a challenging job, circulating among groups and pretending to be patients. Armed with information sheets, TAs answered legitimate questions, asked why tests were justified, and gave test results. Books were available as well as the web (with certain limitations).

Frog Nerve-muscle lab (September, 2003)

Students calibrated the transducer with a weight (see also smooth muscle preparation, below)

After the coordinator brought frogs knocked out with tricaine, students pithed frogs by snipping off the top of the head and using a probe to destroy the spinal cord

With the knee pinned down, the tendon is tied (to the pressure transducer)

Cuff electrode on nerve and pin electrodes in muscle

There were various exercises such as showing that curare blocks the twitch if the nerve is stimulated but not if the muscle is stimulated

Rabbit smooth muscle motility (October, 2003)

The coordinator sacrificed a rabbit and brought pieces of gut with threads attached

Students calibrated the transducer with a weight (see also frog nerve-muscle preparation, above)

A chamber, an air tube, and a transducer are used for the gut preparation

The demonstration involved manipulations like atropine to block motility

Contractions are monitored on the computer

Problem based learning lab on calcium

Each group was given a patient's initial information for a disease such as osteoporosis. Following certain rules, students asked the patient questions or asked for certain test results. The TAs had a challenging job, circulating among groups and pretending to be patients. Armed with information sheets, TAs answered legitimate questions, asked why tests were justified, and gave test results. Books were available as well as the web (with certain limitations).

Human diving response (October 20, 2003)

Jason Gentry is the subject for the diving response while Margaret Fuemmerer stabilizes the snorkel and Scott Schoenleber takes blood pressure.
(1) The temperature of the water bath affects pulse decrease and blood pressure increase.
(2) Whether the subject holds his breath or uses this shorkel is also important.
(3) The face mask is used to demonstrate the importance of this branch of trigeminal input.

EKGs are done (also see EKG lab below), and the electrode is a brass plate strapped on with elastic; conducting gel is also used (not shown).

The EKG was used to monitor heart rate

Hormonal blood glucose control (Oct. 27, 2003)

Anesthetizing the mouse with an intraperitoneal injection of Nembutal

There is a glucose meter and strips that fit in it

A small snip is made at the tip of the tail

A drop of blood from a tail snip is put between the layers on the strip

Crayfish metabolism (Nov. 3, 2003)

Students put large and small crayfish into closed containers of defined volumes of fully oxygenated water

They use a heating bath to do that again at a different temperature for the Q10 determination

Three reactions are done with supplies from a kit in a specially designed bottle for biological oxygen demand (BOD)

A colored solution is titrated until it is uncolored to quantify the oxygen

The male endocrinology follow-up (Nov. 10, 2003)

The technician delivered animals, mice (castrated and control) and hamsters (long day and short day) that had recently been sacrificed using carbon dioxide.

In the control mouse, the seminal vesicle looks white

Seminal vesicles in castrated mice were smaller than controls

Testes in short day hamsters are smaller than in long day hamsters

The EKG (Nov. 17, 2003)

Scott Schoenleber prepares the MacLab for the EKG as Christoph Wagner von Hoff is hooked up, both arms and one leg

EKGs are done (also see diving lab, above), and the electrode is a brass plate strapped on with elastic; conducting gel is also used (not shown).

Right arm vs left arms with leg as ground is "lead I" and favors large P and T waves.

Students did three leads at rest, after exercize and after getting into an unusual position

Respiration (Dec. 1, 2003)

Eric Sheehan is hooked up with the pneumotrace and the peripheral pulse transducer, then there are various manipulations like breathing in and out of a bag

Breathing and pulse are monitored on the computer screen

Tom McEwan measures his vital capacity on the spirometer

Jackson Trotter takes Jeff Naylor's blood pressure

The Urine lab (Dec. 8, 2003)

Braden Powers, Jeff Naylor and Tom McEwan may look like they're celebrating the last lab of the semester, but, in fact, they are in the beer group. The other groups had tap water, caffeine, or salt (both 9% and 0.9%)

Pottassium chromate is added to a urine sample. The test for chloride involves silver nitrate being added to the tube (top left) until it turns brown (bottom right)

A urinometer cylinder and probe were used to test for specific gravity (and also the temperature was taken)

Students also ran test strips

This page was last updated 12/23/03

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