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Serial Section Manager

Use the Serial Section Manager to define the key parameters (i.e., initial section thickness, current average mounted thickness, Z position, etc.) for each section before you sample from them.

The Serial Section Manager stores information about all of the sampled sections, even when performing stereological probes through volumes of interest that extend over numerous sections (e.g., Optical Fractionator for estimating cell populations).

Adding new sections

1. Click Tools>Serial Section Manager to display the Serial Section Manager window.
2. Click the Add New Section icon ; if no section has been defined, Microlucida displays the Serial Section Setup window.
   1. Under Section Information, modify the values as needed, optional: Mounted Thickness (post-processing thickness).
   2. Enter the Starting Section Number OR click the Pick Random button to have Microlucida select a random section as the start.
   3. Select Added or Subtracted then click OK.
      • When you focus down through a section, the depth value increases in the negative direction. For example, if sections are 10µm-thick, and the top of the section is at a depth of 0, the bottom of the section is at a depth of -10µm.

Once the first section (or series of sections) has been defined, Add New Section automatically adds a new section to the end of the section list using the parameters previously specified in Serial Section Setup.

To add a section to the existing list of sections at a specific Z, use the Insert Section icon.

Learn about the Serial Section Manager settings

Section Z

Displays the depth value associated with each section. This is usually the Z coordinate for the top of the section.

Data contained within a section is not restricted to the Z range of that particular section.

Data points placed in a section can have any Z value, but generally the data makes more sense if you restrict the Z values to those contained within the section.

Section Name

Displays the name assigned to each section; either the default name, or the name you assign.

Toolbar

 

New Section	Adds a new section.
Insert Section	Inserts a section between existing sections.
Edit Section	Lets you edit the properties of the selected section.
Delete Section	Deletes the currently selected section. The locations of the other sections are not changed with the deletion of a section.
Delete Other Sections & Data	Deletes all sections except the currently selected section.There is no Undo function for this operation.
Select by Section	Selects all objects in the current section.
Select Objects Not in a Section	Click Select by Section to enable this command Click Select Objects Not in a Section to select these objects for editing.
Display Current Section Only	Displays the currently selected section only.
Show Suppressed as Gray	Displays objects not in the current section as gray Click Display Current Section Only to enable this command. Click Show Suppressed as Gray.
Display Flanking Sections	Displays the sections immediately above and below the current section (e.g., if section 9 is active, sections 8, 9 and 10 are displayed). Click Display Current Section Only to enable this command. Click Display Flanking Sections.

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