Drugs

Today was two pracs, one on nervous system with cadavers.

We had two cranial specimens...sorta. Heads. With brain removed. It was to show us where the intervertebral foramen are.

They look like they're sleeping. But I guess everyone does like that.

I don't know how I'm so ok with cadavers. It's kinda weird. I guess I'll talk about it later when I don't have a fever and just want to play games. Sigh. I should study stuff.

Pharmacology lab. We were experimenting with guinea pig illium. Ie; guinea pig guts.

And it spasms and stuff and we rig it up to a force transducer and it jiggles sorta, and then we measure what happens when we add in various agonists and antagonists such as Adrenaline, Histamine, and Atropine (if you know what that is).

Histamine is a chemical mediator of infection which is pre-formed in mast cells close to the site of inflammation. It is short lived, and generally induces pain and the redness/heat around the site.

.....I hope I'm right. Checking it now.

Adrenaline is a neurotransmitter which binds to adrenoreceptors in the sympathetic nervous system which induces all the things associated with the fright, flight or fight response. Ie; fright => flight/fight.

Aha...

Whups, histamine also does vasodilation and increased permeability of tissues so exudates can get in and neutrophils and macrophages which kill all the bacterial stuffs.

Holy crap I understand a lot of this wikipedia page :O

It's magical.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histamine

Especially the bit about antagonists and sexual libido heh.

Anyway, yes.

Agonists bind to receptors and then induce an effect. Like... Adrenaline and Noradrenaline.

Antagonists bind to receptors and then do nothing. But they block agonists. So like.... morphine. And paracetemol.

Btw, paracetamol produces a toxic chemical which can result in liver damage. So don't take too much panadol!

The chemical is massive. It's like. Whoooooooooooooooooooa big. The name that is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAPQI

N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine

 Like, wow.

 And if you're in shock that we used guinea pig gut, it was a simulation :D

Because normally, it would take hours to be able to plot these kinds of graphs. It's sped up and cleaner. Haha.

Oh and oh my gosh so many nerves to learn.

Oh and haha. Drugs have a lot of side effects right? That's because drugs are sometimes very non-specific and therefore act on a multitude of receptors.

For instance, chemotherapy. It's designed to inhibit the replication of fast-replicating cells yes? So that means cancers. But that also means hair as well and possibly the endothelial cells lining the stomach. Basically the stuff that has to endure pH 2.

Also in hormone contraceptives which some girls take to get bigger breasts, however that's not quite... well.

Actually, technically that would be exactly the same. Hormones also act on receptors and such. Again, there are side effects with that, but I'm not entirely sure what. Besides bigger breasts because that's technically a side effect.

Kinda how like weeds are not weeds when someone wants them.

Anyway, how this is relevant is cause my brother is given Zyrtec everyday for what seems to be an overproduction of phlegm.

Now you might be thinking, "wtf, zyrtec is an antihistamine. It's an NSAID! (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) And it reduces inflammation :O"

Yea, true but NSAIDs have a side effect which is a reduction in the production of mucous. Which means... phlegm and stomach lining :)

There are problems in using the drug like this. Ie; chronic use can lead to stomach ulcers particularly in older people. Plus, if he gets sick with something, it'll take longer for him to recover from it. But in that case, because it's a day by day kind of thing, if he were sick, I'm sure my parents would stop giving it to him.... right?

Hmm I better ask them :o

And I think if I make these kinds of notes and relationships with real-world things, I'll learn med better :D

Now for other things.


BIOHACKATHON TOMORROW D:

Don't forget closed shoes! And I might be bringing my goggles haha. Just in case.

And don't forget to wash hands thoroughly, and don't forget to wear gloves! (I can teach glove taking off and hand washing :O So can andy and mark I bet.)

Also, schleepy head, don't try any of your girly matchmaker stuffs >.>. Not appreciated. Even if your roommate is adorable.

Learning about RICE myself. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Quick, someone teach me first aid!

Ok, I think that's it. Time to gaaaaaaaaaaaame.

Also Cloudier, if you're reading this I'm sorry I couldn't go to the kickoff for the biohackathon event.

Hoping you guys are having lotsa fun with your degree.

Don't feel like anything :o

Med:

More skin and drugs and stuff of that nature.

I realise that I need to study stuff in a bit more detail. If I tried to do a test now, I'd probably just pass. And that's not good.

But I'm surprised with what I do know.

I guess now I should just bring my notes and read through them on buses and stuff.

Thoughts and such:

Getting kinda tired cause it's late.

I don't really feel like doing anything.

Hoping you guys are going ok with exams.

Orthodontist

Meddy:

9-11 lectures yay. Early end. Was pretty easy. Tough to follow the second lecture on receptors because the lecturer was really monotonous.

First lecture was ok to follow though. All about the nervous system.

Dendites and axons and myelin :O

Regular things:

Orthodontist today. Apparently I'll need to get 4 teeth removed, maybe and then braces.

All to fix 2 canines.

Though, my mandible (bottom jaw) is pretty good.

"Almost ideal" :D

And I have a nice profile.

Or something like that.

I need to do some cleaning, but I'm a bit lazy.

ok well.

Looking forward to the party :D

9-5 tomorrow zzz

Break from 11 to 1 though, so feel free to call within that time frame.

Hoping to see you, one way or another.

Also, my parents are playing matchmaker. Do other parents do that too?

Magic.

Today was interesting to say the least, I guess.

Visited the card game store in Epping for about half an hour which was enlightening.

Med:

Did the group project presenting thing which was dull, but educational I guess.

Obesity, Mental Illness and Cardiovascular Disease.

Lecture today was on carbohydrates and lipids. Fats and aldehydes and ketones and so on.

Thoughts:

Installing a whole bunch of games which I know I'll never play.

I have a friend who gets mad at me because I'm busy and I don't talk with her enough. Sigh.
 
Hoping you guys are...well.

Jess.

That was the name of the girl whose name I forgot except until now.

She was my partner for a prac yesterday to do with the cardiovascular system.

I saw her today at the clinic, but I forgot her name, so I let it slide.

MED STUFF:

Oh my, the dermatology lecture today was so, so fast. Sigh.

And she didn't even put up her notes beforehand. Slides, whatever.

Bad lecturer. At least the subject matter was mostly interesting. I think Candid Friend would like it very much.

Cardiovascular lecture that followed was really boring. I did learn how to properly take a blood pressure though, and why you should do XYZ. And also found out exactly what a Systole and Diastole is.

THINKING:

Stuff to do for tomorrow, and potentially getting braces soon hmm.

If I don't open my mouth, no-one will see right? Therefore, I should be fine for the next anime/gaming convention :D

Hoping you guys are doing things and stuff and having fun with life. Unlike a certain transhumanist who has transcended this mortal coil. (Just kidding, we still love you and you're alive in our hearts. All 5(?) pounds of myocardium.)

Anatomy!

MED STUFF:

Ok so more cadavers and such, but this time of the systemic and pulmonary circulation, and naming lots and lots of veins and/or arteries.

There's videos I should be watching about it too.

Also, group work and referencing and academic writing. Urgh. I don't wanna get another fail mark this time.

Lectures on drugs - antagonists and agonists. Agonists bind to receptors and induce a secondary response - Antagonists bind to receptors then do nothing.

Lecture on biochem about Enzymes. Year 11 bio stuff...again. Sigh.

WHAT IS THE THINKINGZ:

Teaching creative writing today felt pretty surreal. Maybe at one point, people realise they're not really students and now teachers?

I wonder if parents feel the same. They probably do.

I bought some hair wax, but I wasn't sure which one to get. I didn't want to get 5 "extreme" I mean. I'm not extreme.

So I got 2. That seems fairly mild, apparently.

Also, a headset.

All up, I spent about $35 today. Ahh. Well, earning $30 made up for it. Sort of.

If you include the mymulti cost, it would be...$35 + 26/7 = ~$38

Ah well. I'll just have to work harder, especially cause I'm not working next friday and the one after that.

Nice computer store in Hornsby in the corner where no-one looks.

Sells a lot of stuff, but I don't think I need any. My peripherals are cheap and going to stay that way. And I'm not running any super ridiculous games that warrant an upgrade of hardware.

Time to do work.

Hoping you guys have had a great day too. :P

Rough day.

Ok, as per a request:

MED STUFF DESCRIPTION ONLY ETC:

Lectures were about pharmacology (drugs), specifically pharmacodynamics (how drugs affect the body), and then a thing about bulk compliance to NSW Health standards, etc. etc.

I learned about Agonists and Antagonists, which was fun too. Agonists do stuff. Antagonists block the action of agonists.

Then scenario group, I got my assignment back: P-.

Last practical of the day on epithelial cells which line a whole bunch of tissues.

Simple/Stratified/Pseudostratified/Transitional
Squamous/Columnar/Cuboidal
Keratinized/Non-keratinized

That's it.


THOUGHTS ON THE DAY AND STUFF:

Missed my bulk compliance check in with doctor before the actual thing: Really really mad at myself because I forgot my documents - need to redo on Monday, sigh.

P-? Fml. It was mostly because I was really confused as to what I should be doing, but I guess now I have a better idea. I still want to talk about reflective writing with my tutor though. Sigh. At least she's a very good tutor - educational but nice.

I actually almost cried when I sat down to talk to her - I didn't know I felt that way about my work. I suppose I have a lot of pride in what I put a lot of effort into. So it hurts when things go wrong.

And there's a lot to do, but I think I should just game today. Sigh.

Hrnn.

I had to also buy new headphones, sigh. Old ones broke and these new ones need some time for me to adjust to them.

I don't really have anything exciting to talk about usually - I mean, what would you find exciting? Seriously.

Rough, rough day. Ah well.

Maybe tomorrow might be better.

Hoping you guys are having better days?

New look

Got a new haircut that my father doesn't approve of. Ah well.

Now all I need a suit and someone to take to the Singing Towers of Daryllium.

Today was a lot of microbiology lecturing. Lots about diagnosis of certain pathogens and how to make a good request form when at a hospital for the microbio lab to understand what you want.

It was a bit tough to keep up with note taking, but luckily, she printed out the slides for us :D

I need to make more notes too - near the end I ran out of paper.

Oh and she ran though the entire gauntlet of bacterial testing, in brief. Which took up almost one of the lectures. (2 hours, 2 lectures 1 hour ea.)

 Easy day though, finished at 11.

Hoping you guys are excited about the weekend too.

ALSO. I've got my hospital placement time :D It's a 2 hour thing, but yea, still.

6 hours straight

I hate it when they timetable really weird hours :<

Oh well, not much can be done.

Lots of immunology lectures today. 2, in fact.

I learned a lot that I'll have to revise later because he went so, so fast. Looking over my notes now...

Soooo....

Started with Antibodies, which are the same as immunoglobulins.

4 peptide chains, 2 identical heavy and 2 identical light chains make up an antibody.

Each chain has a variable and constant region.

Variable determines specificity of the antibody, and constant determines the isotype.

IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE and IgD and IgG has 4 subclasses while IgA has 2 subclasses.

Man, I barely remember any of this because it doesn't quite relate to what I know.

Totally new material sigh.

Then some stuff about IgM antibodies, and how they are part of the primary immunological response, whereas IgG are part of the secondary response. 

.....I hope.YES. I remembered :D

Also, class switching.

Ie; IgM turns into IgG because IgM is good early on and is specific to a certain virus/pathogen, but then to maintain its staying power for later encounters, IgM's constant region, which are determined by its constant region genes then turns morphs into a different series and then expresses itself as IgG.

Also, antibodies are first and foremost, function blockers. They stop bad things binding to our cells and infecting them.

Antigens (ANTIbody GENerators) are the bad things, usually.

And also, Cytotoxic T-Cells. I did my assignment on those, so I know what's going on for them, thankfully.

They express CD8 or Complex Distribution 8 (I think that's right.... I hope I am. WHOOPS. "Cluster of Differentiation" Lol.)

And they're better at killing things than the Natural Killer cells, funnily enough.

And there was much more, but that's all that I think I can remember atm.

Actually, one of my med buddies mentioned to me today...well. We were talking about the lecture and how fast it was.

Friend 1: "Oh man, I'm going to need to study that a bit more. How was it for you, Neku?"

"Ah...well, I did my assignment on it, so I knew a bit about it beforehand."

Friend 2: "Don't ever talk to Neku about lectures. He's all like "Oh but it's so easy~" Ahaha."

"Pfft yea man. If you think this is hard, what are you going to do when it gets to fifth/sixth year? *laughs*"

I don't think he's ever going to get off my back about it now XD

Later on today, another friend asked me if I was a genius or something.

That was amusing. I don't think I am. Especially when I speculate wrongly, or fail to figure out something.

But y'now, after that, Friend 2, who I'll call Saint ended up telling me about how arrogant and condescending I was (in a friendly, cordial tone - ie; jokingly).

On the home, I asked him why, and told him that other people have said that to me before.

Turns out, it's cause people can't understand when I'm joking and when I'm serious.

I don't understand.

Also, probably the best one liner today:

"My ego hasn't gotten bigger. Yours has just gotten smaller!"

Hoping you guys aren't as worn out as me. Woo... more work >.<

Nine to Eleven, and Eleven to Nine

Rings of Akhetan was pretty good. You guys should watch it on ABC iView when you get the chance.

If all goes to plan, I should be able to start playing Dota 2 tonight, but not that I really want to.

Kram - I really want to play Dwarf Fortress again. Dwarf Buddies?

Today was a lecture on skin and on quality medical practice.

The lecture on quality medical practice was kind of boring, but I was downloading stuff from uniwide, so I'm fine with it. I got 10GB of game data onto my laptop :D I just need to transfer it. Does anyone know why some of my usb drives (including my 16GB one) does not register on the DETLaptops? Says the drivers are nonexistant...

I knew what the lecture was about already, and there wasn't really anything new, but it was more reinforcing than anything. Reinforcement isn't too bad.

Histology lecture on skin. I learned quite a bit about the epidermis and the dermis. They are interdigitated, so they're locking in to one another via dermal papillae, which are what forms fingerprints.

There are Meissner corpuscles in the dermis for fine vibration sensing and there are Pacinian corpuscles for "deep and meaningful touches". Ie; those sensors are big and deep within the dermis.

The epidermis consists of... 4 laters?

Stratum Basalum, Stratum Spi....something (Spinosum!), Stratum granulosum and Stratum lucidum.

Base layer, Spiky layer, Granualted layer and Clear layer. The clear layer's the stuff that flakes off, granulosum is there for waterproofing, spinosum is also for water proofing, but by cells (I think granulosum uses sebum) and basalum is for mitotic growth of skin cells.

A skin cell is a keratinocyte (fancy that)

Melanocytes produce melanin, Langerhans cells do the garbage collection and destruction work, and Merkel cells are also sensory receptors.

Also more about sweat glands and how there's Endocrine (sweat) and Apocrine (pheromones).

Then myoepithelial cells which are muscular cells that squeeze out the stuff made by the glands. Then hair and nails and they're just keratin and there was still quite a bit.

And wow, that's a lot in one hour, huh.

Anyway, you're free to come to one of them when you want - it's always a 9am start for me in Clancy.

Hoping you guys are having lots of fun too.