The responses of intestinal tissues to ionizing radiation can be described by comparing irradiated cell populations qualitatively or quantitatively with corresponding controls. This paper describes quantitative data obtained from resin-embedded sections of neutron-irradiated mouse small intestine at different times after treatment. Information is collected by counting cells or structures present per complete circumference. The data are assessed by using standard statistical tests, which show that early mitotic arrest precedes changes in goblet, absorptive, endocrine and stromal cells and a decrease in crypt numbers. The data can also produce ratios of irradiated: control figures for cells or structural elements. These ratios, along with tissue area measurements, can be used to summarize the structural damage as a composite graph and table, including a total figure, known as the Morphological Index. This is used to quantify the temporal response of the wall as a whole and to compare the effects of different qualities of radiation, here X-ray and cyclotron-produced neutron radiations. It is possible that such analysis can be used predictively along with other reference data to identify the treatment, dose and time required to produce observed tissue damage.

Using a commercial microwave oven (750 W, 2,450 MHz), we compared the use of microwave energy to the commonly used method of acid-glycine elution (Elu-Kit II, Gamma Biologicals, Houston, Tex., USA) to elute antibodies from direct antiglobulin test positive red blood cells (RBC). Using a 33% suspension of RBCs in cold saline (1-6 degrees C) in a polypropylene test tube, the microwave technique was comparable for eluting Rh (except anti-c and anti-e) and Kell and superior for eluting Duffy, Kidd antibodies while acid-glycine was superior in eluting S and s antibodies. Consistent results were obtained using the microwave technique when the RBC suspension reached temperature of 57-64 degrees C. Heat or the rate of temperature rise appears to play an important role in the microwave elution process although other not yet identified microwave properties may also be a factor. Microwaves are a quick (8 s) alternative to well-established methods of elution and have shown to give consistent results in our study. Commercially available microwave ovens vary substantially in power, making it necessary to perform an initial calibration of the microwave in order to determine a location within the microwave cavity where exposure to microwaves will consistently achieve temperatures of 57-64 degrees C in all cell suspensions.