Fiber Hunter

What is your microscopy history? What are your interests? What equipment do you use?
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snmbsc
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Fiber Hunter

#1 Post by snmbsc » Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:13 am

This may be the wrong forum to ask this question and it’s a little less than polite but I was wondering what the blue fibers are in my nasal secretions (nice way of saying it). Are they nasal cilia that are being shed ? Do cilia have a blue color? 25xw eyepiece with 10x objective a scope camera. I recently had loss of smell blamed on an extremely well known condition. Not the most appealing way to introduce yourself but my name is Dan.
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mrsonchus
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#2 Post by mrsonchus » Sun Sep 12, 2021 5:31 pm

Presumably just threads inhaled and filtered by nasal-hairs by design?
John B

perrywespa
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#3 Post by perrywespa » Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:34 pm

Agree. Fiber, maybe from a mask.
Perry
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snmbsc
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#4 Post by snmbsc » Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:28 am

Have not worn a mask since June. Another day another fiber.
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.Both these are from an examination scope, the second is with the fiber isolated from the secretion. Placed on a new slide with slip cover on my compound microscope. Then turned up the magnification. Last image is the best I achieved before switching to the 40x objective disturbed the slip cover
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Is my wife trying to smother me with a blue pillow in my sleep?
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Scarodactyl
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#5 Post by Scarodactyl » Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:29 am

Take a look at a ray of sunlight coming through a window, and see what dust looks like. A lot of it is colored fibers from clothes. Lint is fine and gets everywhere. You'll see a lot of it under the scope, especially if you don't meticulously clean your samples (similar deal with pine pollen this part of the world during allergy season).

snmbsc
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#6 Post by snmbsc » Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:37 am

Messed up the photos
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snmbsc
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#7 Post by snmbsc » Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:54 pm

Thinking about environment, I have three girls whose favorite things include glitter and ribbons. That would be the most likely source. It is a shame in that I was hoping to find something related to my loss of smell like the shedding of nasal cilia. It makes sense that something with such a bright color would be artificial. Cilia are likely translucent and would probably have to be stained

Confuseddave
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#8 Post by Confuseddave » Thu Sep 16, 2021 12:02 pm

It's a little hard to judge the scale, but these seem to be by far the wrong size to be cilia, by maybe a couple of orders of magnitude. They appear to be on the scale of macroscopic hairs; their diameter appears to be at least a cell width.

Cilia are subcellular structures; they're usually below a micron in size. One reference I saw noted that detached respiratory cilia are comparable in size to bacterial bacilli, if that gives you an impression of the resolution you would need to see them; I'd expect the full length of a detatched cilium to be around a quarter of the *diameter* of the fibres you've shown. I would not expect to see them at all on a dissection scope.

Also, the cytoskeletal structure of a cilium is microtubules covered by cell membrane; you're right that without a stain like Eosin they would appear transparent.

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Rossf
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#9 Post by Rossf » Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:37 pm

Welcome snmbsc- this is snot a very nice introduction to yourself! Jokes aside sorry to hear you got the loss of smell post covid-must make eating weird-I’ve read articles about naval fluff mostly being blue-do you wear a lot of blue shirts?-the fibres are strikingly flat almost like microscopic audio tape-do you have blue synthetic fibres in the home like carpet or curtains or pillow case? You could be inhaling pillow case fibres all night! It’s like a mini crime scene investigation- though I don’t think fibre evidence can be entered into court anymore…keep exploring-I’m investigating microbes in insects poo currently-Twiggy my pet stick insect has some interesting amoebas in her gut biome….
Regards ross

MichaelG.
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#10 Post by MichaelG. » Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:21 pm

The fibers do look quite extraordinarily tape-like …
Might this be a possibility ?
https://fiberjournal.com/band-shaped-sm ... s-apparel/

MichaelG.
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snmbsc
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#11 Post by snmbsc » Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:36 pm

I think this is the culprit or something like it. This is from the room of one of my girls. The phenomenon of micro-plastics is a real concern not just for the oceans. At least I know my wife is in the clear. Thanks for all the responses. I will try to make my next post a little less gross .
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Rossf
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#12 Post by Rossf » Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:30 am

Hey snmbsc I trust the forum can handle gross! In regards to micro plastics I wonder if studies have been done about microbes that break them down-I guess UV does too.. and mechanical action-Also I’ve always wondered about the tonnage of tiny particles from all the soles of synthetic shoes entering the environment-at least leather soles would have decomposed quite quickly..Glitter also has a way of appearing months after the party has ended…
Hope you get your smell back.
Regards ross

EYE C U
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Re: Fiber Hunter

#13 Post by EYE C U » Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:44 am

YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED WHAT PEOPLE INHALE.

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