Stressed to a Max, trying to finish every piled on assignment assigned on the last day of class plus study for important exams, plus plan an ugly Christmas sweater themed holiday party is tearing me apart. One of my professors decided to assign 3 term papers due before today's final. They weren't major but when it comes to writing I tend to take my time with it...so it was an intense couple of nights...that in turn affected my study time for Mammalian and Mammology...which cut into the time I had planned on passing out invitations. So I take my first final today, hand in all of 3 of my term papers and he tells me I have 0 for a test I never took....wait....hold up...... Did you just say I have a 0 for a grade?
This has never happened to me before, especially not on some baby freshman course needed for your core. I took all three exams, turned in alllll my papers, what happened? Apparently since I had rescheduled my exam, he never uploaded my grade, which could be a possible he lost my grade situation, and now i'm shitting bricks. I sent him an email, this guy is never in his office, to see how this (since its technically not my fault) can be resolved, I've yet to hear from professor...which builds on my anxiety, which adds to my stress for not studying enough for my other two exams....Let me tell you, I don't care if its 9AM Friday after my last Final, I'm going to throw back a couple....I NEED IT.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Weeds
I hate taking advantage of Black Friday sales, the people, the attitude, the rush to get and find a deal that you can't really afford anyway, and the pain of the lines and horrors to find that 10 other people are in line to get what you want is just a mess. This year however my little nephew, who isn't little well 16, anyway my nephew wanted me to take him to some Black Friday sales so he can try to see if he can afford a discounted iPod. We go to Best Buy and to my surprise Weeds the series is on sale. I took advantage of this and went crazy buying seasons 1-5. Whenever, which is rare for a biology student, I have time to myself I engage in an episode or so. I'm just super excited thst I will soon have time to watch them all, with nothing stopping me. Thats right no homework assignment, no study cram session, no lab work, nothing but me and my episodes of Weeds. LOVELY! Blogging was a pleasure but seriously who has time for this? MAYBE I will once all 5 seasons of Weeds finish. Until next time student rants...
Monday, December 6, 2010
video editing
although stressful and time consuming this project was actually pretty fun. Starting off none of my group members knew what we were doing but on our crunch time last day to submit it, we were fucking legit. I must say I'm actually very proud of this project. I feel like its my child only instead of taking 9 months to develop it took 1 week but none the less its a replica of my, and my group's, ideas and thoughts. I can only imagine how movie editing in Hollywood can be such a long process. It took us a week to edit it. That not only includes editing the different shots we took, but adding sound effects, text, music, and pictures. I'm a huge fan of the Pinnacle Studio program only because it was easy to master, but we did encounter some problems with it. Our project was constantly being threatened to shut down due to the program "not responding" which occurred 4x's in one day. Nonetheless I would like to add video editing to my resume on list of skills. Ahhh maybe a new life career change to editor on one of those nature movies. Cool.
More Study Rants
Which brings me to another point, why on earth did God, or Science (for you nonbelievers) invent the armadillos. Mammal, yeah right, its like a mixture of all things put into one creature. It has scales, and claws, and a weird nose, and a freaking carapace for Christ-or-science sake. But then I guess nothing in the order Xenarthra makes any sense. I mean anteaters, armadillos, and sloths truely strangest of strange mammals.
Bio 4303 also known as mammology or mammLAMEology (only because I'm bitter and noway does it reflect my feelings towards Dr. Gun, who is a wonderful professor, just in case he stumbles upon this) is really pushing my limits on the capacity my brain has to memorize 26 different rodent aka Rodentia species. I now know genus and species names for common household, and local, rodents, carnivores, ungulates, and xenathera. Can't wait for the upcoming dialogue where Mom or some future person I will engage in conversation with says, "Holy shit a Rat!" To which I will reply with my savey-proper tone and pinky up hand jester, "ACTUALLY my friend, not only is that not a rat, its a common household mouse scientifically known as Mus musculus." They will roll thier eyes and say, "same shit!" just before stomping it flat to the ground.
Monday, November 22, 2010
What came first, longevity or the shell?
It is undetermined as to which came first, the tortoise shell or its longevity, but the both are codependent. The tortoise shell essentially protects the tortoise from predators and harsh environments. This is a big plus in outliving other animals around us. I mean if you were to face two knights together, one without armor and one with the full armor (chain link and all) which of the two would be expected to survive. Ummm, my money goes to the fully armored one, duh. It’s the same effect with giant tortoises. Other animals with protection, or a sort of self-defense against predators can outstand those that don’t have any sort of protection.
There are other determining factors that contribute to the lifespan of the giant tortoise. One obvious contribution is the speed of a tortoise. Speed with what??? Well speed of everything, referring to the slow speed of a tortoise’s life. Tortoises are slow at everything, running races against hares, metabolizing, and well they’re even slow at growing. Throughout a tortoise’s lifetime, all 220 years, it is growing slowly. While most large animals take about 1 year to develop into an adult the tortoise continues to grow constantly up until 18 years (varies with species). Since its sexual maturity develops so late in the game, there is less of a chance to die, the will to live is increased, I mean its life duty is, well, not accomplished until its genetic code is passed on. From an animal’s stand point, what’s the point in dying fast if you haven’t given a chance to reproduce yet? Animals that reproduce at an early age tend to die younger than those that reproduce at a latter age. Metabolic rate is also associated with lifespan. For example animals that burn energy fast, require more energy, and hence die faster than slow metabolizers. Take for example the hamster or shrew; they have a fast burning metabolism and a lifespan of about 2years. Tortoises require little energy, since they are so slow at everything, and burn metabolism slower. This is why they can survive long periods of time without drinking or eating.
So maybe instead of injecting botulinum toxin and killing the neurons responsible for muscle contractions of the face, scientist should develop a medication that will slow down metabolic process in humans hence creating longer life, just saying.
There are other determining factors that contribute to the lifespan of the giant tortoise. One obvious contribution is the speed of a tortoise. Speed with what??? Well speed of everything, referring to the slow speed of a tortoise’s life. Tortoises are slow at everything, running races against hares, metabolizing, and well they’re even slow at growing. Throughout a tortoise’s lifetime, all 220 years, it is growing slowly. While most large animals take about 1 year to develop into an adult the tortoise continues to grow constantly up until 18 years (varies with species). Since its sexual maturity develops so late in the game, there is less of a chance to die, the will to live is increased, I mean its life duty is, well, not accomplished until its genetic code is passed on. From an animal’s stand point, what’s the point in dying fast if you haven’t given a chance to reproduce yet? Animals that reproduce at an early age tend to die younger than those that reproduce at a latter age. Metabolic rate is also associated with lifespan. For example animals that burn energy fast, require more energy, and hence die faster than slow metabolizers. Take for example the hamster or shrew; they have a fast burning metabolism and a lifespan of about 2years. Tortoises require little energy, since they are so slow at everything, and burn metabolism slower. This is why they can survive long periods of time without drinking or eating.
So maybe instead of injecting botulinum toxin and killing the neurons responsible for muscle contractions of the face, scientist should develop a medication that will slow down metabolic process in humans hence creating longer life, just saying.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wait…Hold Up…You Mean To Tell Me Bears Don’t Freaking Hibernate?
Leave it to college to change, yet again, something I was certain I thought I knew. I mean sure my political ideology has drastically changed from being conservative (aka under the influence of my very religious family) to a more liberal perspective. Somewhere out there one of my family members reading this is puzzled thinking to themselves, what you mean you’re not prolife?!? And sure on some things my experience at the university has expanded my thoughts on some of the issues my public education failed me in, BUT common, I never expected to learn something like this so late in the game. My whole life, since I can remember, I was taught that bears hibernate. This might not be shocking or irrelevant to you reading this but it shattered my world. My jaw dropped and I had to fight the urge to let out a high pitch gasp when my Mammology professor broke the news. I know I wasn’t the only one who was effected by hmm maybe the imagery of a sleepy bear cartoon, or the term hibernation loosely being used to mean sleep, because I saw a bunch of confused and “say wuuut?” faces in class.
Cold winter often activates this adaptive to climate state in mammals. Let’s face it no one likes to be out and about in the cold, we usually have to layer clothes on and psychologically convince ourselves to get out from under the warm blankets to get a move on in a cold day. So it’s no surprise that most mammals are the same. Winter usually yields less available food, especially for herbivores, and the energy cost for locating a meal in a cold day becomes way high. Solving this problem essentially leads to two solutions…1.) Dying or 2.) Adapting to the harsh winter by lowering your metabolism, respiration, and heart rate. The animal’s body temperature drops significantly low, often times matching the winter temperature outside. Large mammals, yes that includes bears, don’t go through true hibernation. The largest mammal that hibernates is the marmot which only weighs about 5kg.
So what do bears do in the winter?
If they are NOT hibernating then what the heck are these furry large suckers doing? They undergo a torpor state of sleep. During this “faux hibernation” their core body temperature doesn’t reach as low as what a true hibernator would reach but it does drop. Even though they do sleep for long periods of time they are still active on occasions, such as if they need to urinate or eat. True hibernators seem as if they are dead, they sleep entirely with no waking up. Since larger mammals have more surface area and volume it would take way too much energy, energy they don’t have, to warm their bodies up once out of the hibernating state. Which brings to mind an image of a snoring bear in a cage with a wander sneaking in to do lord knows what….yeah, BAD IDEA. Unless you are looking for a bear mauling then go ahead and make your way into a bear den while they sleep and pray that their torpor sleep isn’t somehow affected by your presence.
Learn something new every day, to bad this isn’t really new just something I can now be scientifically correct (SC) about. I sincerely wish I had the ability to stimulate my hippocampus to remember the bastards responsible for leading me to believe that bears effing hibernate.
Cold winter often activates this adaptive to climate state in mammals. Let’s face it no one likes to be out and about in the cold, we usually have to layer clothes on and psychologically convince ourselves to get out from under the warm blankets to get a move on in a cold day. So it’s no surprise that most mammals are the same. Winter usually yields less available food, especially for herbivores, and the energy cost for locating a meal in a cold day becomes way high. Solving this problem essentially leads to two solutions…1.) Dying or 2.) Adapting to the harsh winter by lowering your metabolism, respiration, and heart rate. The animal’s body temperature drops significantly low, often times matching the winter temperature outside. Large mammals, yes that includes bears, don’t go through true hibernation. The largest mammal that hibernates is the marmot which only weighs about 5kg.
So what do bears do in the winter?
If they are NOT hibernating then what the heck are these furry large suckers doing? They undergo a torpor state of sleep. During this “faux hibernation” their core body temperature doesn’t reach as low as what a true hibernator would reach but it does drop. Even though they do sleep for long periods of time they are still active on occasions, such as if they need to urinate or eat. True hibernators seem as if they are dead, they sleep entirely with no waking up. Since larger mammals have more surface area and volume it would take way too much energy, energy they don’t have, to warm their bodies up once out of the hibernating state. Which brings to mind an image of a snoring bear in a cage with a wander sneaking in to do lord knows what….yeah, BAD IDEA. Unless you are looking for a bear mauling then go ahead and make your way into a bear den while they sleep and pray that their torpor sleep isn’t somehow affected by your presence.
Learn something new every day, to bad this isn’t really new just something I can now be scientifically correct (SC) about. I sincerely wish I had the ability to stimulate my hippocampus to remember the bastards responsible for leading me to believe that bears effing hibernate.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Fusarium solani a suspect?
Humans are no longer the ONLY main cooperates for the 30 year decline of the Atlantic sea turtles (Caretta caretta), or at least that’s the claim done by a group of scientists working in Cape Verde, Africa. The study discussed in yesterday’s article in Science Daily states that the decline of the Atlantic sea turtles can be attributed to a fungus Fusarium solani. This particular fungus infects the soil, which contain perfect conditions for this fungus, in which the sea turtle eggs are covered. Scientist are attributing this newly discovery to the rapid decline in population of the sea turtle. This definitely marks the way for new measures in protecting the species and preventing this from declining the population. It took 30 years to make the connection, its funny how science is so quick to point the finger at Man and not take into consideration any other natural factors. By any means is this not defending Man, we still manage to pollute our beaches, leave fishing gear laying around, and tamper with turtle nesting sites but the connection with fungus and egg could have been identified earlier.
Monday, October 25, 2010
I have the blues, no not really but I've been listening to it
So recently after my weekend trip to Austin for ACL I came back with a new taste in music. I guess it started with watching the Blues Travelers sing, "run around" and watching John Popper go crazy on his harmonica. I was never a fan of them, ever, but for some reason when my hand was inches short of catching the harmonica he threw in my direction my mind changed. I must admit in secret (because if my friends found out they would judge me) that I enjoyed their preformance. Right After they played I got to see The Black Keys perform and they changed my life. I had listened some of The Black Keys songs but I never really got into them, but their live perfomance was AMAZING! I have sinced created a Black Keys Pandora station and have been intrigued with the different bands that have gone under my radar for so long. Who knew Stevie Ray Vaughan was that good, or that Jimmie Hendricks played the blues, or that Muddy Watters had lyrics that I would come to love. Since I've been really interested in this type of music my really good friend bought me a harmonica in order to explore my creative side. Worst mistake she could ever do because now i'm annoying everyone I come into contact with when I play. I have learned a simple blues chord that is really corny and fun to play. As much as I aspire to play the blues on my harmonica like John Popper I think I'll stick to my studies. I have a better shot at passing my Mammalian test than being a famous harmonica player.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Bat Attack
So this Sunday my brother was helping my mom trim some of the palm trees in our back yard. As he snipped this dead dangling cluster of palm out flew a bat, frightened by the sudden attack he let go of his positioning on the latter and feel on his back. It was the funniest thing to see but non the less he was at a loss of words as to what happened. Shaken up by the event my brother recapped what had happened and used a lot of inappropriate language to describe this poor creature. "Effing stupid piece of shit ugly bat, what the HELL was it thinking!!!" He yelled. As an obnoxious bio student I felt the need to defend the creature and piss my brother off.
"Uhh it was probably thinking the same about you interrupting his sleep and destroying his habitat." (My response to his argument) I didn't fully get a chance to examine the specimen but judging by our climate and location I assumed it was an insectivorous bat. I went on to explain how this bat is a big importance to bio regulation. "Batty eats about 240,000 kilos of insects a night, would you rather go around swatting these unwanted insects yourself or have this poor 'malreputable' creature do it?" He thought about it and agreed but then finished by saying, "yeah but its freaking ugly."
"Uhh it was probably thinking the same about you interrupting his sleep and destroying his habitat." (My response to his argument) I didn't fully get a chance to examine the specimen but judging by our climate and location I assumed it was an insectivorous bat. I went on to explain how this bat is a big importance to bio regulation. "Batty eats about 240,000 kilos of insects a night, would you rather go around swatting these unwanted insects yourself or have this poor 'malreputable' creature do it?" He thought about it and agreed but then finished by saying, "yeah but its freaking ugly."
Weekend Recap
This Saturday rather than live up to my reckless 'oh she's young' reputation I decided to change it up and enjoy some female bonding with my bestie and do things slow. We started our Saturday night with dinner at a new restaurant I had heard about. We went to Lolo's on 10th, its a small health conscious place, they had extremely amazing hummus, and the menu contains a brief description of what kind of vitamins are in the food and how many calories are consumed. We enjoyed out soups with a glass of wine and chit chatted until we felt like maybe we should continue our night elsewhere. We ended up leaving the restaurant but were still in the lets drink wine mode but we were reluctant to go to a crowded noisy bar or club. Driving down 10th street we passed by Sahadi's and were urged to stop by. The mood at Sahadi's was exactly what we wanted. The lights were dim, the restaurant smelled good, and they had a live band. The band was a 5 member family band that played Spanish songs. The youngest member of the band was only 15, and he played the bongos like nobodies business. We were impressed by the talent of this band, the father of the band played 5 different instruments including the violin and the saxophone and had a voice that could rock a baby to sleep. We ended up drinking our wines with a cheese ball plate and an escargot appetizer. Escargot was a first for both of us and to my surprise it did not look or taste like what I expected. After a couple of glasses of wine and as the restaurant was closing down, we left but were not ready to end the night. We stopped by our favorite coffee shop Ambrosia, to grab our self some fresh coffee and make fun of the people that surrounded us. It was a pretty great night, I had excellent wine, excellent food, excellent company, and excellent coffee...ahhh I fell so grown up.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Prorotodactylus
When I look at my pet cat, Lady Kittens, I do not see ferocious dinosaur. Instead when I think dinosaur I picture a great massive stature like a Tyrannosaurus Rex or Brachiosaurus straight out of the Jurassic Park movie. According to a recent article by the BBC small prints only a couple of cm in length found in 250 million rock may be evidence of an early species of dinosaur. That is the claim a team of scientist have concluded when they found the fossilized footprints in Poland. Before the find scientist estimated dinosaurs evolved hundreds of millions of years after the “end-Permian mass extinction”. Is it odd that up to reading today’s article I had never even heard of this Permian mass extinction idea, I’m embarrassed by this. None the less the prints date back to only 2 million years after this mass extinction which is baffling researchers and changing the ideas previously believed about the rise of these ancient vertebrates. But like the pompous scientist thinking with their heads (eh eh plug in today’s bio writing lecture) the scientific community isn’t completely satisfied by this finding. The researchers blame the lack of finding skeletal evidence of this newly introduced dinosaur creature to the reason why their findings were not published on more important scientific journals. Hey guys, be happy your stuff is even being published. Heck if I found something as exciting as that I’d probably have enough to feed my ego for a lifetime….hmm do I smell a new prospect for expanding my possibilities towards a new biology field after my BS degree?? As much as I want to bust out with my shovel and brush I think my lack of direction as to what field to further my education and scientific career in is still up in the air, besides how many new pre-dino creatures can you possibly discover in a life time?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 850 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 850 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
This is interesting...a simple historian doing her job tumbles on some papers and finds this.
This is interesting...a simple historian doing her job tumbles on some papers and finds this.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Black Bananas=Death?
Today after working out my friend gave me a banana, she said, "Hey sorry its turning black I don't know if you still want it."
Me: "why is it bad?"
Friend: "nooo not really, I don't know if it’s getting rancid but my mom always use to say when its black it means more potassium."
Wow I can't believe in my 23 years of existence I never knew the answer to why bananas turn black or if turning black made them bad to eat. My mom use to take the mushy brown part off and give us the rest, why? Was there some secret human primitive DNA sequence that told her to take precaution? Was there any reason for it? And do black bananas really contain more potassium? I was bombarded with questions and searched to find out.
What I learned was that bananas help prevent high blood pressure and osteoporosis because of the amount of potassium and low sodium (1mg) in the fruit. Potassium is an electrolyte and can replenish your body (wish I knew this after my Machete Madness night). Bananas are also a good source of fiber which also benefit heart and prevents it from heart disease. But the magical power of bananas doesn’t end with the heart and bones, it has also been linked to helping the stomach with ulcers and ulcer damage. HOW you say, well according to the World’s Healthiest Foods website by thickening the mucus lining in the stomach and by eliminating the bacteria that grows in the stomach. Who would have known that the protease inhibitors a component of bananas (protease blocking enzyme) is found in many antiviral and antibiotics to fight infection. (side note: protease inhibitors are currently used for HIV treatments, since its use in HIV medications the death rate has dropped 70%)
So why do the skin of banana’s turn black? This is a result of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, also called tyrosinase which reacts to oxygen. How boring, the reason why a banana turns black is exactly like what happens to an apple, oxidation, I learned this in elementary. What I also came across was that the skin of bananas contain a gaseous hormone ethylene, ethylene doesn’t stop working and continues even if the ripening process is stopped like placing a banana in the fridge. This explains why bananas only grow in subtropical hot climates and not in cold climates like Washington.
Of course the best time to eat a banana is when its ripen (yellow), this is when the fruit contains the most beneficial vitamins and antioxidants. So my friend’s mom was probably just manipulating her to eat a black banana. BUT, eating a brown/black banana is not harmful at all, in fact there are some fun recipes that put good use to brown bananas. It’s all a matter of getting use to the idea that brown doesn’t always mean bad. So the next time a banana is looking black, hurry up and makes yourself banana pancakes or a banana smoothie and enjoy the benefits of this healthy fruit.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=7
http://www.ifood.tv/blog/why-do-bananas-turn-brown
Early Morning Workout
After another successful "boys night out" which consists of a group of four of my closest girlfriends getting together to watch the Bears play and consume endless number of mild wings and drink beer we decided we needed to burn the calories and put the protein we consumed to good use. I'm going to be completely honest I don't work out often. In fact the last time I went to the gym regularly was probably in 2007. Since then it has been whenever there is absolutely and utterly nothing to do. I guess I was inspired by going with one of my friends who was joining a gym and waking up early (and by early I mean 5:00am) to workout with another friend who has been doing that routine for years now.
Waking up was so hard to do, I blame the cold front for making my nice toasty sheets feel like heaven...anyway, after a cup of coffee I'm pumped and on my way to the Rec. We start by warming up on the treadmill. We put it on high incline and worked our way until we were running. After 20 minutes my body was fatigued. My heart was racing. I was breathing heavy, and beginning to sweat. Since I had forgotten to bring my iPod and the music at the gym wasn't of interest my mind (as a nerdy biological student) started thinking of how my body was working to keep up with the high demand of my working muscles.
To get started I would like to review how muscles require ATP for energy. Muscles normally store ATP, but not enough is stored to supply the body with the high demand needed when exercising. There are three ways the body makes ATP to supply your muscles, phosphagen system, glycogen-lactic acid system, and Aerobic respiration. The phosphagen system breaks a phosphate bond called creatine. The creatine phosphate is broken down by a creatine enzyme specialized for this and creates the ATP. (In this process ADP->ATP->ADP->which then turns to ADP confusing, I KNOW!) Through the glycogen-lactic acid system glycogen (a carbohydrate chain) is broken down to glucose. The cell then uses anaerobic metabolism to break down glucose to ATP and lactic acid. Aerobic respiration uses oxygen the body supplies to break down glucose into CO₂ and H₂O. The most important nutrient muscles need to continue is oxygen. This is why my heart is beating fast and my breathing has increased. These are all responses my crazy body is doing in order to keep that oxygen rich blood circulating to my hard working muscles while taking out CO₂. Working muscles release adenosine which account for blood vessels to dilate to be able to move the rapid blood flow. However the sympathetic nervous system overrides the message to dilate all the body’s vessels. Since acytocholine is released by the muscle’s action potential the brain tells the body to constrict other muscles like organs in order to keep as much blood to flow to the muscles to keep up with the oxygen supply needed by aerobic respiration.
Meanwhile when chemical reactions take place heat is released. There’s no mystery as to why our body secrets sweat, and just to remind myself (test coming up) my hypothalamus is getting signals about rising internal temperature which triggers action potentials in the neurons that secrete sweat. The sweat then evaporates in an attempt to keep the body from overheating and cooking up inside.
WOW, amazing how all of this is instantly turned on inside with just a couple of minutes of excursive. Poor body, I will feel the effects of its hard work tomorrow when my legs feel like falling off because I’m sore. (Interesting side note, during the glycogen-lactic acid system if too much lactic acid is produced it is stored in the muscles and is the reason why the muscle feels sore the next day). http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/exercise/sports-physiology.htm
Waking up was so hard to do, I blame the cold front for making my nice toasty sheets feel like heaven...anyway, after a cup of coffee I'm pumped and on my way to the Rec. We start by warming up on the treadmill. We put it on high incline and worked our way until we were running. After 20 minutes my body was fatigued. My heart was racing. I was breathing heavy, and beginning to sweat. Since I had forgotten to bring my iPod and the music at the gym wasn't of interest my mind (as a nerdy biological student) started thinking of how my body was working to keep up with the high demand of my working muscles.
To get started I would like to review how muscles require ATP for energy. Muscles normally store ATP, but not enough is stored to supply the body with the high demand needed when exercising. There are three ways the body makes ATP to supply your muscles, phosphagen system, glycogen-lactic acid system, and Aerobic respiration. The phosphagen system breaks a phosphate bond called creatine. The creatine phosphate is broken down by a creatine enzyme specialized for this and creates the ATP. (In this process ADP->ATP->ADP->which then turns to ADP confusing, I KNOW!) Through the glycogen-lactic acid system glycogen (a carbohydrate chain) is broken down to glucose. The cell then uses anaerobic metabolism to break down glucose to ATP and lactic acid. Aerobic respiration uses oxygen the body supplies to break down glucose into CO₂ and H₂O. The most important nutrient muscles need to continue is oxygen. This is why my heart is beating fast and my breathing has increased. These are all responses my crazy body is doing in order to keep that oxygen rich blood circulating to my hard working muscles while taking out CO₂. Working muscles release adenosine which account for blood vessels to dilate to be able to move the rapid blood flow. However the sympathetic nervous system overrides the message to dilate all the body’s vessels. Since acytocholine is released by the muscle’s action potential the brain tells the body to constrict other muscles like organs in order to keep as much blood to flow to the muscles to keep up with the oxygen supply needed by aerobic respiration.
Meanwhile when chemical reactions take place heat is released. There’s no mystery as to why our body secrets sweat, and just to remind myself (test coming up) my hypothalamus is getting signals about rising internal temperature which triggers action potentials in the neurons that secrete sweat. The sweat then evaporates in an attempt to keep the body from overheating and cooking up inside.
WOW, amazing how all of this is instantly turned on inside with just a couple of minutes of excursive. Poor body, I will feel the effects of its hard work tomorrow when my legs feel like falling off because I’m sore. (Interesting side note, during the glycogen-lactic acid system if too much lactic acid is produced it is stored in the muscles and is the reason why the muscle feels sore the next day). http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/exercise/sports-physiology.htm
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Appriciating the little things in life, litterally the little things, like the cell
Stressed out, not only do I have a huge test for mam phys Thursday, a Mammology test on Monday, but I have a crapload of other stuff to turn in too, and its only the beginning of the semester...ohhhh boy! I've pretty much learned more than I wanted to about the cell membrane. It just fascinates me how something so microscopic almost invisible is able to communicate with other cells and make up this complex body. Imagine this complex network of communicating back and forth without physically using your brain to think about it. I mean I'd have to be a robot or some advance computer to remember which molecule goes in which cannot, what protein is needed, osmosis, diffusion but our cells act on 'impulse.' It just astonishes me how all of this is going on inside of me without me even knowing, feeling, or sensing it. I mean what would our life be like if atoms did not exist??...there would be no life because cells would be no more!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Tropical Diseases are NOT Cool
A tropical disease is a disease that occurs in developing regions of the world with hot or humid weather. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website, it is estimated that 1 billion people worldwide are affected by one or more tropical disease(s). Millions of people living in hot and humid temperatures of developing countries are infected with tropical diseases caused by parasites, such as schistosomiasis, filariasis, and leishmaniasis. These diseases impact the lives socially and economically of people living in developing countries in Latin America, Africa, India, and even Afghanistan. Although the method of contraction, species, virus, or bacteria causing tropical diseases varies they do share one thing in common; they affect the lives of those found in the worst living conditions of the world. The effort to control them is still a topic being researched and practiced by organizations such as WHO however, tropical diseases such as the ones mentioned is not popularly discussed in economically developed countries with the funding and resources available to aid.
As in the case of schistosomiasis, general interest in eradicating these diseases occurred when the number of those infected began to affect the wellbeing of the population economically. The pathology of these diseases began to impact agriculture and to an extent the countries economically hence the need to eliminate the situation. Unfortunately when the economy of these underdeveloped countries is affected by tropical diseases little government backing is given. One of the main factors which make it difficult to eradicate such diseases is the lack of financial backing. The majority of these tropical diseases could be easily treated if diagnosed and treated on time but because they occur in deprived developing countries the diseases caused by parasites often goes untreated. Tropical diseases develop severely in poor rural countries and the individual infected may not have the sufficient funds needed to treat the problem. Even more so beyond the individual level, communities do not have the proper funding to help aid those in need. Coming from a developed well off country’s perspective it is fairly easy to assist the situation by treating the water, educating the people, eliminating the intermediate host/vector, and by seeking proper medical care for those infected. These ideas are difficult for underdeveloped countries to accomplish because of the limited resources. Underdeveloped countries lack funding, doctors and medical staff, and scientific researchers, to continue the effort to control these tropical diseases. Now due to generic drug development the chance of receiving the proper medical treatment is more attainable but is still a luxury for these people who live in poverty. The effort to control these diseases needs to be a topic discussed in all walks of life. It is often difficult to find funding for research for these tropical diseases especially since they are often shadowed by more socially conscious diseases such as HIV/AIDS. These tropical diseases have already affected the lives of so many of the world’s deprived population and much more aid is needed. As long as light is shed on this taboo diseases caused by parasites topic more and more people will be aware of an existing problem.
As in the case of schistosomiasis, general interest in eradicating these diseases occurred when the number of those infected began to affect the wellbeing of the population economically. The pathology of these diseases began to impact agriculture and to an extent the countries economically hence the need to eliminate the situation. Unfortunately when the economy of these underdeveloped countries is affected by tropical diseases little government backing is given. One of the main factors which make it difficult to eradicate such diseases is the lack of financial backing. The majority of these tropical diseases could be easily treated if diagnosed and treated on time but because they occur in deprived developing countries the diseases caused by parasites often goes untreated. Tropical diseases develop severely in poor rural countries and the individual infected may not have the sufficient funds needed to treat the problem. Even more so beyond the individual level, communities do not have the proper funding to help aid those in need. Coming from a developed well off country’s perspective it is fairly easy to assist the situation by treating the water, educating the people, eliminating the intermediate host/vector, and by seeking proper medical care for those infected. These ideas are difficult for underdeveloped countries to accomplish because of the limited resources. Underdeveloped countries lack funding, doctors and medical staff, and scientific researchers, to continue the effort to control these tropical diseases. Now due to generic drug development the chance of receiving the proper medical treatment is more attainable but is still a luxury for these people who live in poverty. The effort to control these diseases needs to be a topic discussed in all walks of life. It is often difficult to find funding for research for these tropical diseases especially since they are often shadowed by more socially conscious diseases such as HIV/AIDS. These tropical diseases have already affected the lives of so many of the world’s deprived population and much more aid is needed. As long as light is shed on this taboo diseases caused by parasites topic more and more people will be aware of an existing problem.
The Next Time Someone In Front of You At The Checkout Lane Paying With Lone Star Card, Think before you Judge.
When reflecting on poverty in America generally the image of a poor shirtless bloated child drinking unsanitary water is far from being imagined. That is because the effects of poverty in an industrialized society such as America are better off than developing countries. Instead a homeless scruffy adult sleeping in the streets is the image that comes to mind. According to Katharine Ritz Battistoni, a journalist for the Nation, there are “37 million Americans living below the poverty line…” That is a number that continues to grow as time progresses, especially in this shit economy we face today. There are a lot of misconceptions about being poor which is the result of poor media coverage and political ploys to justify policies that hurt those in need such as Welfare Reform. The poor, the social outcast of America are the bud of every negative connotation connected to poverty, including me gasping at the lady who decides to pay with her Lone Star the day that I’m in a hurry and want to check out fast. But its that type of behavior and thinking that fuel the negative connotation of blaming the poor for their situation. (Trust me I have shammed myself, hence the cause of this redemption blog) The reality is, not all of those who suffer from poverty come from an urban community, not all of them are black or Hispanic, not all of them are single women, or adults and not all of them are poor because they refuse to find jobs. The fact is there are many myths concerning the poverty community and a lot of those myths refuse to aid the situation and better those who need it.
There are two ways of looking at Americas poor, the deserving and the undeserving. The deserving poor include children and elderly, even those who are mentally or physically incapable of working (Iceland 2006). The undeserving poor are those society generally pictures when they think of poor they are the ones that society blames for draining America's resources because they refuse to find work. They are the drug addicts or alcoholics or they are associated as being lazy and those who refuse to get jobs. Battistoni states in her article, “It is much easier to dismiss poor people as undeserving unsavory, crackheads, welfare queens- not like respectable middle class Americans- than to acknowledge the enormous problems that continue to plague our society.” Which is what we tend to do, especially after 1996 with Clinton’s Welfare Reform Act which enabled a platform for the stereotypes of those in poverty to be inflamed justifying restrictions enforced for those in need. In an article for the Star newspaper in Canada, Judith McCormack writes,
“The myths about poverty often serve other political purposes as well. Defining the poor as lazy or irresponsible creates popular villains for the rest of us to condemn. It panders to a human weakness to feel superior to someone, and provides a handy target for complaints about tax dollars.” (p.2)
For example, during hurricane Katrina, the effects of poverty displayed on every media coverage in America was racially disproportionate. It was not the poor white receiving their “five minutes of fame,” but rather the blacks that populated the lower wards of New Orleans. It is not just with New Orleans; generally media coverage of the poor depicts the single black ghetto mother. All this does is shift the sympathy many should have for the poor.
It is generally believed that America’s poor are a big government economic nightmare. They are the ones that abuse and drain the system. When in fact most welfare programs are designed to keep people in poverty rather than help them out of it. Garkovich, Hansen, and Dyk say, "Programs designed to increase a poor person's educational attainment or work skills represent about ten cents of every dollar spent on means-tested welfare benefits. The reality is that welfare was not intended to ‘solve’ the problem of poverty, merely to maintain eligible persons until their economic circumstances improved. ‘{Nationally} means-tested government cash benefits lifted about 3 million people out of poverty in 1994, lowering the poverty rate by one percentage point over what it would have been’ (O'Hare, 1996:35).”
In fact less than a third of America’s poor do not receive government handouts (Garkovich, Hansen, and Dyk 1997). The fact is that the majority of government funds, or tax expenditures, are spent on social security and Medicaid rather than other welfare funds (Iceland 2006). In “Without a Safety Net, Barbra Ehrenreich and Frances Fox Piven write:
“In the past, poor single mothers had their own from of unemployment insurance-welfare. Contrary to the stereotype, most welfare recipients worked at least intermittently, falling back on public assistance when a child got sick or a car broke down. But in their zeal to save the poor from their supposed sins of laziness, irresponsibly, ad promiscuity, the reformer entirely overlooked the role of welfare as a safety net for working mothers…Whatever sense this made in the boom years when welfare reform was devised, it makes none now.”
When minimum wage is unbearable to live off of more will turn to the government for help. The average income for a family of four to survive is $25,000 which is less than the income made with today’s minimum wage, now add a couple of children to that and the cost of living is unattainable. The way in which poverty is measured is the result of such broken attempts to fix poverty. Poverty is measured by multiplying 3 times the amount of food spent to the pretax income of individuals. This is quite controversial even for Molly Orshansky, the person who invented this formula because it does not take into consideration other attributing factors that could contribute to the poverty line.
Gender, race and education are amongst the common stereotypes of the lower class in America. These common misconstructions add to the notion that the unfortunate in America do not deserve sympathy. It is hard to visualize a society where all people are required equal distribution of the basic necessities of life including food, shelter, clothing and even education when equality for all is seen as a utopian idea by when envisioning the extinction of poverty. America, the land of the free, of which all men are created equal, is likely to turn her back than lend out a hand to her unlucky citizens. That is the unfortunate reality of a country so proud of its celebrated individuality. Especially since individual driven people do not have the public’s self-interest at heart, instead the driven individual will aim to advantage himself. As long as poverty is seen as a choice to be frowned upon rather than a fault the path to eroding poverty is unlikely. So I encourage all to think before judging any person on government assistance.
Bibliography
• Battistoni, Katharine R. "The Reality of Poverty." The Nation 1 Jan. 2007. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071022/ritz_battistoni, New York, NY. 22 Apr. 2008. .
• Ehrenriech, Barbra, and Piven Frances Fox. "Without a Safety Net." Mother Jones 2002May/June, 2002 03 April 2008.
• Iceland, John. 2006. Poverty in America. 2nd edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press.
• Garkovich, Lori, Gary Hansen, and Patricia Dyk. "Implications of Welfare Reform for Poor Kentucky Families." Foresight 4 .2 (1 1997): 22 Apr. 2008.
• Ginsky, Jake. "high-Income Poverty." Mother Jones [San Fransico, CA] 17 Dec. 1999. 24 Apr. 2008..
• McCormack, Judith. "Scapegoating Needy Justifies Scoiety's faiure to Find Political Solutions." The Star [Tronato, Canada, 2 Mar. 2007. 1 Jan..
There are two ways of looking at Americas poor, the deserving and the undeserving. The deserving poor include children and elderly, even those who are mentally or physically incapable of working (Iceland 2006). The undeserving poor are those society generally pictures when they think of poor they are the ones that society blames for draining America's resources because they refuse to find work. They are the drug addicts or alcoholics or they are associated as being lazy and those who refuse to get jobs. Battistoni states in her article, “It is much easier to dismiss poor people as undeserving unsavory, crackheads, welfare queens- not like respectable middle class Americans- than to acknowledge the enormous problems that continue to plague our society.” Which is what we tend to do, especially after 1996 with Clinton’s Welfare Reform Act which enabled a platform for the stereotypes of those in poverty to be inflamed justifying restrictions enforced for those in need. In an article for the Star newspaper in Canada, Judith McCormack writes,
“The myths about poverty often serve other political purposes as well. Defining the poor as lazy or irresponsible creates popular villains for the rest of us to condemn. It panders to a human weakness to feel superior to someone, and provides a handy target for complaints about tax dollars.” (p.2)
For example, during hurricane Katrina, the effects of poverty displayed on every media coverage in America was racially disproportionate. It was not the poor white receiving their “five minutes of fame,” but rather the blacks that populated the lower wards of New Orleans. It is not just with New Orleans; generally media coverage of the poor depicts the single black ghetto mother. All this does is shift the sympathy many should have for the poor.
It is generally believed that America’s poor are a big government economic nightmare. They are the ones that abuse and drain the system. When in fact most welfare programs are designed to keep people in poverty rather than help them out of it. Garkovich, Hansen, and Dyk say, "Programs designed to increase a poor person's educational attainment or work skills represent about ten cents of every dollar spent on means-tested welfare benefits. The reality is that welfare was not intended to ‘solve’ the problem of poverty, merely to maintain eligible persons until their economic circumstances improved. ‘{Nationally} means-tested government cash benefits lifted about 3 million people out of poverty in 1994, lowering the poverty rate by one percentage point over what it would have been’ (O'Hare, 1996:35).”
In fact less than a third of America’s poor do not receive government handouts (Garkovich, Hansen, and Dyk 1997). The fact is that the majority of government funds, or tax expenditures, are spent on social security and Medicaid rather than other welfare funds (Iceland 2006). In “Without a Safety Net, Barbra Ehrenreich and Frances Fox Piven write:
“In the past, poor single mothers had their own from of unemployment insurance-welfare. Contrary to the stereotype, most welfare recipients worked at least intermittently, falling back on public assistance when a child got sick or a car broke down. But in their zeal to save the poor from their supposed sins of laziness, irresponsibly, ad promiscuity, the reformer entirely overlooked the role of welfare as a safety net for working mothers…Whatever sense this made in the boom years when welfare reform was devised, it makes none now.”
When minimum wage is unbearable to live off of more will turn to the government for help. The average income for a family of four to survive is $25,000 which is less than the income made with today’s minimum wage, now add a couple of children to that and the cost of living is unattainable. The way in which poverty is measured is the result of such broken attempts to fix poverty. Poverty is measured by multiplying 3 times the amount of food spent to the pretax income of individuals. This is quite controversial even for Molly Orshansky, the person who invented this formula because it does not take into consideration other attributing factors that could contribute to the poverty line.
Gender, race and education are amongst the common stereotypes of the lower class in America. These common misconstructions add to the notion that the unfortunate in America do not deserve sympathy. It is hard to visualize a society where all people are required equal distribution of the basic necessities of life including food, shelter, clothing and even education when equality for all is seen as a utopian idea by when envisioning the extinction of poverty. America, the land of the free, of which all men are created equal, is likely to turn her back than lend out a hand to her unlucky citizens. That is the unfortunate reality of a country so proud of its celebrated individuality. Especially since individual driven people do not have the public’s self-interest at heart, instead the driven individual will aim to advantage himself. As long as poverty is seen as a choice to be frowned upon rather than a fault the path to eroding poverty is unlikely. So I encourage all to think before judging any person on government assistance.
Bibliography
• Battistoni, Katharine R. "The Reality of Poverty." The Nation 1 Jan. 2007. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071022/ritz_battistoni, New York, NY. 22 Apr. 2008. .
• Ehrenriech, Barbra, and Piven Frances Fox. "Without a Safety Net." Mother Jones 2002May/June, 2002 03 April 2008
• Iceland, John. 2006. Poverty in America. 2nd edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press.
• Garkovich, Lori, Gary Hansen, and Patricia Dyk. "Implications of Welfare Reform for Poor Kentucky Families." Foresight 4 .2 (1 1997): 22 Apr. 2008
• Ginsky, Jake. "high-Income Poverty." Mother Jones [San Fransico, CA] 17 Dec. 1999. 24 Apr. 2008.
• McCormack, Judith. "Scapegoating Needy Justifies Scoiety's faiure to Find Political Solutions." The Star [Tronato, Canada, 2 Mar. 2007. 1 Jan.
Adopting a Kitty
Ok so this weekend started off to a great start, mother is away for a 2 weeks, house to myself and ohhhh crap, a new cat? I found my dogs trying to attack a kitten on Friday; the poor thing was cornered curled up in a ball, while my two German Shepards were barking in her face taking snips at her. I brought her inside made her some fish and she’s been inside ever since. I’m still looking for a home for her because my dogs are assholes. Anyway I haven’t gotten around buying her a litter box but I have those training wee pads for puppies, I’m using them for now. She seems to understand how they work except for the occasional she misses the mat and hits the floor. Cleaning up is not fun, but from personal experience I’d rather pick up cat poop than dog poop because it seems to harden faster…interesting why is that?
So there isn’t enough research online to help me find out why my cat was pooping hard, or why it’s harder than dogs. I figured it had to do with something in their metabolism or diet but my hypothesis wasn’t answered. Instead I found out that it could be caused by dehydration and that I should probably give my kitten some milk or canned pumpkin. CANNED PUMPKIN?? That then got me to thinking, why does pumpkin help soften cat poop? From what I found out canned pumpkin, only 2 tablespoons, can soften cat or dog poop. It is rich in fiber which allows their digestive system to get going. It has even been reported to help with Fido’s diarrhea. Apparently pumpkin also absorbs water and can settle their stomachs, for a broke college student who can’t afford proper vet care this is an interesting fact. I shall put this to the test today after class. HMMM do I smell an individual research assignment….only if time permits.
So there isn’t enough research online to help me find out why my cat was pooping hard, or why it’s harder than dogs. I figured it had to do with something in their metabolism or diet but my hypothesis wasn’t answered. Instead I found out that it could be caused by dehydration and that I should probably give my kitten some milk or canned pumpkin. CANNED PUMPKIN?? That then got me to thinking, why does pumpkin help soften cat poop? From what I found out canned pumpkin, only 2 tablespoons, can soften cat or dog poop. It is rich in fiber which allows their digestive system to get going. It has even been reported to help with Fido’s diarrhea. Apparently pumpkin also absorbs water and can settle their stomachs, for a broke college student who can’t afford proper vet care this is an interesting fact. I shall put this to the test today after class. HMMM do I smell an individual research assignment….only if time permits.
Machete Aftermath and a New Look at a Hangover
“I’m never effing drinking again, I swear!!” Those were the first words I mumbled to my friends the morning after our tiny wine bottles and Machete movie night. This was probably the most dreadful hangover my body has ever been put through in my entire undergraduate life. My body felt like it was tossed out of a two story building, my head was throbbing almost at sync with every beat that my heart made, and my mouth tasted like a something or someone had died in it. As we tried to recap the crazy shenanigans that we partook in the night before I had to excuse myself in order to puke my face off every time the word “wine” was mentioned. It wasn’t until I was fully recovered that I felt like I should appreciate how hard my body was working to keep it at homeostasis even though it felt like it betrayed me that evil morning after.
To begin to understand what my body was doing I have to recall the symptoms I had felt after feeling I was on top of the world the night before. The day started with me waking up sweaty and startled as to how I got home. I had a fuzzy idea about what happened the night before but my memory was not it’s usual on cue self . I had a high sensitivity to light and woke up fatigued, nauseous, dry mouthed, and of course with a pounding headache. From what I remember from a bio lecture about alcohol breakdown in the liver, the body is capable of breaking down alcohol with no problem. It isn’t until the amount consumed overpowers what your body can break down that causes the major problems and the hangover symptoms we all love to hate. Within our bodies there is an enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase aka ADH) in our liver cells that converts alcohol to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a toxic substance that is then converted by yet another enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) to acetate. (Hang Over how your body is affected article) . Although little is known about what specifically causes of headaches, alcohol is known to dilute the blood vessels in your brain. Coincidence, I think not.
It has also been mentioned that dehydration, which explains my fatigue and dry mouth, can trigger the throbbing headache like the one I encountered. Anyone that has had a few drinks in their system knows that alcohol causes frequent urination. Although I cannot recall exactly how many times I peed that night I do remember going more than usual. Symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, thirst, dizziness, and headaches….all of which I felt the morning after.
Vomiting is not a result of your stomach being upset, instead it is forced from the respiratory muscles like the diaphragm. The act of vomiting is all coordinated by the medulla in the brain stem. The diaphragm descends downward and applies pressure on the stomach. At the same time the abdominal muscles compress causing the stomach to be squished between the diaphragm and the ab muscles. This causes the contents in the stomach to go up and out of the mouth. The side effects of vomiting that the body produces are salivation, sweating, rapid heart rate and the sensation of nausea all caused by the autonomic nervous system. HMM sounds like my symptoms. Vomiting can be triggered by emotional factors such as sights and orders which explains why just the thought of wine made me gag uncontrollably. As far as the memory loss of the night before (which I just learned in my Mam Phys class with Dr. Dearth) that can be attributed to the ethanol in alcoholic beverages that block the NMDA receptors (receptor-channel that permits Ca2+ entry when it is open) which is probably the reason people have difficulty remembering what happened during a time of heavy drinking.
Our amazing bodies are capable of having a good time and breaking down the alcohol we consume as long as the acetaldehyde levels remain low so that it can be easily converted to acetate. Once the levels of acetaldehyde levels build up, the fun stops, and you learn the hard way just as I did the day morning after when the sun comes through your blinds.
Special thanks to my Human Physiology From Cells to Systems 7edition Mamalian Physiology book and
Friday, September 3, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)