Blastocysts and hCG----Objective 78

I would just like for you to know that I am laughing at myself right now.  Firstly because I just realized I am on my last objective and secondly because I just read the last objective and for the life of me could not "recognize that blastocyst secrete human gonadotropin".  I am so exhausted and mentally fried that  I could not figure out what in the world is human gonadotropin! And then it its me...duuuuhhhh...its the same hormone that you test for when you find out your pregnant!! Which is the same hormone that prolongs the life of the fetus...At this point I am glad I am laughing at myself and not crying.

The Birds and the Bees---Objectives 71, 72

Discovery Health has a pretty funny video about conception.  Before watching this video I did not know that there is an enzymatic cap, on the head part of the sperm, that allows the sperm to penetrate the egg.

Zygote, Morula Blastocyst...Oh My!---Objective 76

A zygote is the initial cell formed after a sperm and egg have joined.
Morula is the process where the zygote begins to divide and multiply into many cells.
A blastocyst begins at day 5 in mammals after fertilization.
This all occurs during the first week of being conceived

Individual Responsibility---Objective 77

In A & P 210 with Dr. Middleton, we had to do a community service project that involved the class donating blood to a local blood bank.  At first, I was a little nervous because I have never given blood before and I had heard that the needles were HUGE!  Well push came to shove (my procrastinating habits came into play) and I finally decided to get it over with (at the very last minute).  To tell you the truth it wasn't that bad.  The needle WAS huge and the nurse said I have pretty deep veins, so there was some pain involved, but hey I've given birth to two VERY big headed daughters so I was able to deal with the pain.  Anyways, to make a long story short, I have given blood ,every 2 months or so, since then.  If it was not for Dr. Middleton and that dreaded project I would have never realized the importance of giving blood.

Spermatogenesis and Oogenesis---Objective 73, 74

This video compares spermatogenesis and oogenesis.  To me it is helpful to see the mitotic division of each one side by side so you can get a better comparison of the two.

The Liver----Objective 59

This website made learning about the microscopic anatomy of the liver easy.  I was able to enlarge the microscopic picture of the liver and color/label each structure.  It was also helpful because it gave a description of each structure.

Erythropoietin and Red Blood Cell Production---Objective 54

 

This diagram helped me understand the regulation of red blood cells.  The flow of things is pretty easy to understand now.  Oxygen levels decrease, kidneys produce erythropoietin which stimulates production of RBCs in bone marrow, RBCs carry oxygen to body. And the loop continues...

Spirometer Use---Objective 51

Although the physioex exercise were long and miserable, they really did help furthering my understanding how the different systems work.  Here is a snipet from the respiratory physio-ex showing the use of a spirometer.

Oxidative Phosphorlation

I do remember this from Bio-100.  Here is a diagram that helped to refresh my memory.

Oxygen is crucial for oxidative phosphorylation because it is the last electon carrier.

Carbon Dioxide and Ventilation---Objective 48

Here is a snipet from our Respiratory Reciation:

Participating in the recitations did help pull all of the systems together as a whole.  I also think that researching the the different systems to answer these questions helped us meet some of the objectives needed for this class.

Cardiovascular disease---Objective-30

Americanheart.org shows some unbelievable statistics about deaths caused by cardiovascular disease.  My guess that the statistics are so high is due to that cardiovascular disease is classified as a large array of diseases including high blood pressure, strokes...etc

Genetic Disease---Objective 26

4 types of genetic diseases:

Monogenic (single gene) ex: sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Aicardi Syndrome, Huntington’s disease

Polygonic (multiple genes) ex: Alzheimer, diabetes, obesity and arthritis

Chromosomal ex: Down Syndrome

Mitochondrial ex: cause deformities

Blood Clotting Process---Objective 22

A video that shows the blood clotting process.  It really helped watching how the RBCs, platelets, and clotting agents work together to form a clot.

Technology---Objective 19

This website (scroll to the bottom) gives a timeline of historical events in anatomy and physiology.  I did not know that the first human dissection was done in Greece in 500 BCE.