Video Blog : Types of Muscles

Common Disorders of the Integumentary System

Here are some of the common disorders of the skin leaving scabs, itches, and bumps that are very sensitive and painful :

*Acne - When sebaceous glands oversecrete sebum clogging hair follicles, pimples formed when infected by bacteria.

*Athlete's foot - Caused by fungus infection that itches the toes and forms fungi-like scabs on the foot. This usually occurs in damp places and in athletes too.

*Skin cancer - One of the deadliest disorders of the skin. This is caused by overexposure of sunlight (ultraviolet rays) destroying melanocytes resulting in small bumps with a crusted center on it.

*Dermatitis - Inflammation of the skin with red or pink rashes.

*Psoriasis - Inflammation of the skin with a grayish-white scabs of dead skin cells.

*Vitiligo - A skin disorder in which the loss of melanocytes (cells that produce the color pigment melanin) results in patches of smooth, milky white skin.

Integumentary System

Integumentary system is also known as our "skin". It serves as a protection from foreign agents aside from the immune system. This is the first line of our defense. Without it, our white blood cells may not be able to perform their tasks well from defending our body. The skin also serves as storage for vitamin D and provides sense of touch which allows us to detect danger and pain in an environment. What's more amazing about our skin is that it can adapt and adjust our temperature in different environments.

The skin is divided into three layers. First is the epidermis which is the skin itself. Though it has no blood vessels, it contains dead skin cells which are to be replaced by new skin cells when it is damaged. Dermis is the second layer of the skin which is considered to be the "true skin". Because it contains blood vessels and has dense connective tissues surrounding. It also has elastic fibers which when we try to pull our skin it forms back like what Mr. Fantastic does from the Fantastic 4. Finally, the subcutaneous fascia, the innermost layer, has still elastic fiber to support the dermis but has lipocytes for insulation and padding that are attached to the muscles.

Of course, the integumentary system wouldn't be complete without the aid of sweat glands. Sweat glands are also part of the skin which acts as storage and carries out heat away from the body. There are two types of sweat glands. Apocrine glands are the ones which are secreted at the hair follicles while eccrine glands are secreted all over the skin and not from hair follicles.

We may be wondering how the skin heals itself. Well first, when the skin is wounded it calls out the platelets to clot the wounded part. Then as it clots it hardens and forms a scab. After a scab is formed white blood cells then took place in guarding the scab from foreign agents causing infection. While the white blood cells are guarding, the production of new cells form and then the skin is healed.

How about if the skin is burned? It is really dangerous isn't it? Obviously it is, and it is a main threat for the skin. There are depths of burns at which point the skin can be damaged.
1st burn - partly epidermis, no pain, takes 2-3 days to recover
2nd burn - entire epidermis and portion of the dermis, redness, pain, and blisters, takes 10-14 days of recovery
3rd burn - all three layers that can't be felt any pain
4th burn - affecting the bone

Other parts of the integumentary system are the nails and hair. Nails are specialized cells orginated from the nail root while hair is composed of kerotin and melanin that makes our hair turn color black. Melanocytes and melanin are the ones responsible for the color pigment of our skin and hair. Carotenes are the ones which makes our skin yellow from the yellow race or the Mongolians.

Common Disorders of the Muscular System

Diseases and other abormal conditions of our muscles are divided into neural and skeletal disorders. They are known also to cause paralysis like the ones in the skeletal system because they eat the bone cells which are very significant in the development of our bones gradually affecting our muscles that affects our movement. Here are some of the disorders :

A.Muscoskeletal
*Shin Splits - inflammation of the lower legs
*Tendinitis - inflammation of the tendons (all parts)
*Myalgia - pain of a muscle
*Fibromyalgia - occurs mostly at women under 40 years old
*Ataia - irregular action of muscles
*Spasm - abnormal contraction of muscles
*Sprains - breaks in ligaments
*Strains - breaks in tendons
B.Neuromuscular
*Myasthenia gravis - increasing muscle weakness
*Muscular Dystrophy - muscle weakness by inheritance
*Guillain Barre Syndrome - loss of reflexes
*Tetanus - major spasm
*Paralysis - lost functions of muscular movement
*Paraplegia - paralysis on lower parts of the body
*Quadplegia - paralysis on both arms and legs
*Hemiplegia - paralysis only on side of a body

Common Disorders of the Skeletal System

Here are some of the diseases of our bones causing paralysis and death among Filipino men & women at any age :

*Osteoporosis - It occurs especially in women after the menopause in which the bones become very porous, break easily, and heal slowly. It may lead to curvature of the spine after the vertebrae collapse.

*Bone cancer - leads to paralysis

*Osteocsarcoma - affects males commonly between ages 10-25 years old

*Erwing's sarcoma - triggers the bone marrows

*Lymphomas - more on the lymph nodes

*Chondrosarcoma - attacks cartilage cells

*Fibrosarcoma - causes primary malignant tumours that damages the bone cells itself

Muscular System (introduction)

Skeletal system is generally known as the framework of our body allowing free movements from the joints. It also protects our vital organs from any danger. Without them, we may probably look like a flop of jelly and we can't do things that are very basic such as walking, eating, running, thinking, and etc. Speaking of movements, they would be impossible without the assistance of the muscular system.

The muscular system is the one that helps us run faster and can improve itself. And when I say improve itself meaning it can increase its performance better. Body building is one good example of how muscles themselves can improve. That is depending on how a person exercises and how often he/she regulates time of doing it.

Within this week, we discussed the basic parts of upper and lower muscles that help us do things basically such as chewing of food, leaping, lifting, and etc. Notice as you go to a gym there are labels nowadays containing the parts of the muscles. Deltoid, gastroecmius, bicep, tricep, femoral bicep, and etc. are the common terms that biologists and atheletes use. Well, how do muscles move and contract? It's simple. Each muscle fibers contain sacromeres which serve as functional units of gears in a motor.

After the presentation discussed by our teacher, I have come to the conclusion that muscles are very significant in moving our body and mainting our weight. For without them, we will probably look like a statue staying there until forever like a stone as well!

Here are some of the terms of muscular movement :

*Agonists - primary movers
*Point of origin - muscle ends attached to the stationary bones
*Point of insertion - muscle ends attached to the moving bones
*Synergistic - assists in movement
*Antagonists - muslce movement in an opposite direction towards its reference
*Rotation - circular movement of the muscles
*Abduction - away from the midline of the body
*Adduction - towards the midline of the body
*Extension - increasing angle between two bones in a joint
*Flexion - decreasing angle between two bones in a joint
*Extensor - straightens a joint
*Flexor - bends a joint

Tissues

The skeletal system won't work without tissues. Tissues are the ones helping bones to attach one another. Four types of tissues involved in the skeletal system are epithelial, connective, nervous, and muscular. Ligaments and tendons are also considered to be connected to the skeletal system. However, tendons attach muscles to bones while ligaments attach bones to bones.

Skeletal System and Joints

Bones are one of the most important parts of our body. They support our shape and weight, protect vital organs, and allows us to move. There are two types of bones one is compact and the other is spongy. Compact bones have denser tissues covering on the external part of the bone while spongy bones are more on the internal part forming red bone marrows that red blood cells enter and flow around the blood. Bones have also origins. Osteoprogenitor cells are known as non-specialized cells. This is the first stage in forming bones. When non-specialized cells are involved it is called osteoblasts which is the building stage of bones. When osteoblasts are fully completed, they are called osteocytes which can also be called fully grown osteoprogenitor cells. After the osteoproginer cells in order to improve its structure, osteoclasts take place tearing down the bone itself and reconstructs. Aside from growth and classification of bones, different movements can also be classifiedfon the different regions of the body. Hinge joints is an example that can be found on elbows, ball-and-socket joints found in the shoulder bones, and pivot joints for neck and the forearms.

During the dinosaur age, bones are proven to be real. As you can see in museums, bones are wondrous works of art made by our body. Without them, we'll probably never find out how we, humans, were originated from the ancient times.

Based from the lessons we tackled this week, I can conclude that the skeletal system is a primary foundation for students to learn biology before tackling other systems. As I observe many organs from different systems are much likely involved in the skeletal system. Along with the tissues connected to the bones of our body they may be able to perform their tasks well for storing minerals, protecting vital organs from injury, and provide structure and framework for the body to move .

My Video At Home : Carbohydrates

Cell Division : Mitosis and Meiosis

Within this week's lesson, I have familiarized the concepts of how mitosis and meiosis work and how do they differ not only in terms of process. For me, it is really obvious that mitosis is really very easy comparing with meiosis but also is easy to understand with much more stages. And always remember that the interphase is always first before the cellular division begins having the substages of G1, G2, and S(synthesis).

Mitosis is always known as the body cell itself which produces asexually. Skin cells, muscular cells, blood cells, and gastrointestinal cells, and brain cells are good examples of demonstrating mitosis only producing by themselves. Take note that mitosis is always cyclic meaning that it can repeat the process all over again when needed by other organs from different parts of the body. Without mitosis, we would have been dead or even get memory gaps in an instant. Because all parts of the body need cells not only because they're the basic unit of life but they also play important role. That is to replace all types of cells needed whenever an cut is located, or they can even replace brain cells making you remember everything you have learned.

Mitosis has the following basic processes :

1. Prophase - the initial stage of mitosis having a nuclear membrane and centrioles ; and has the following substages namely leptotene(coiling of chromosomes), zygotene(beginning of having synapsis), pachytene(completion of synapsis), diplotene(uncoiling/overlapping of chromosomes), and diakinesis(shortening of chromosomes).
a. Early Prophase - centrioles form ; nuclear membrane starts to disintegrate ; chromosomes start to thicken having "x" shapes
b. Late Prophase - centrioles start to move apart ; nuclear member breaks up ; chromosomes became much thicker
2. Metaphase - chromosomes align in the middle ; spindle fibers formed pulling the chromosomes apart
3. Anaphase - as the chromosomes are pulled apart half of it are pulled toward the opposite poles and the other half at the other pole
4. Telophase - cleavage start to form ; two nuclei start to form ; chromosomes become indistinct ; daughter cells are formed called cytokinesis


Meiosis is one of the most important lesson required to master if tackling the reproductive system. This is because meiosis occurs/involves in the gametes known as sexual organs. The significant difference between meiosis and mitosis have is that the haploid and the diploid number of chromosomes will change having 23c or haploid (x).

Here are the following stages of meiosis :

First Meiotic Division
1. Prophase I - follows the substages of the following in order : leptotene, zygotene, pachytene, diplotene, and diakinesis
2. Metaphase I - similar with the metaphase stage in mitosis but its maternal chromosomes are formed on the other side of the equator.
3. Anaphase I - also similar with the anaphase stage in mitosis but paired chromosomes move toward the opposite poles held by centromeres
4. Telophase I - cleavage starts to form like in the telophase stage in mitosis

Second Meiotic Division
1. Prophase II - spindle fibers from the centrioles to the opposite poles in different positions
2. Metaphase II - mitotic spindle fibers are set up ; chromosomes line up along the equatorial line
3. Anaphase II - centromere divides ; sister chromatids separate to the opposite poles
4. Telophase II - cleavage forms again ; a diploid gamete always has four haploid daughter cells

Lipids pt.2 Acyglycerol Introduction to Cell Structure

As we tackled this lesson, we have learned that acyglycerol is a kind of fats that is neutral composing of a glycerol and any three fatty acids starting with the chemical structure of CH2-CH-CH2 for the glycerol part then the rest will follow. Though it is a bit complicated than writing the structures of fatty acids I could understand how it is formed and bonded. Which is why I thanked God giving me an opportunity to study these kinds of structures and giving me enough widsom to learn.

Cell structures, on the other hand, is a waterloo for me when we were still studying our basic biology. Because of its several parts and functions connecting to the cellular respiration and metabolism that helps us to work efficiently, I had a hard time understanding it. But I was lucky that we were asked to only draw its structure and label the parts for the day knowing that our other classmates are ill due to contamiation of flu caused by raining season. Thank you viewing!

Here are the following basic parts of the cell and their corresponding functions :
*Golgi Apparatus - the "packaging counter" of the cell
*Mitochondrion - the "powerhouse" of the cell
*Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum - synthesizes proteins
*Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum - synthesizes lipids and steroids
*Centrioles - involves in mitotic and meiotic process
*Lysosome - the "suicidal bag" of the cell
*Centrosomes - builds DNA and RNA through proteins and amino acids
*Ribosomes - attached around the cytoplasm
*Cytoskeleton - gives shape to the cell

Acyglycerol and Cell Structure

As we tackled this lesson for the week, acyglycerol is a neutral fat containing a glycerol and any three fatty acids combined as one initiating with CH2-CH-CH2 as the part of glycerol then the rest will follow. Though a bit complicated, I can understand how it's written and formed. There are also shorter ways how to write the structure like writing the shortcut method of the fatty acids.

Cell structure, on the other hand, is a waterloo for me when we were still studying our basic biology because of its several parts and functions connecting with cellular respiration and metabolism complicating my mind. What I can remember is that the mitonchondria is the powerhouse of the cell, lysosome is always known as the suicidal bag in case foreign agents enter into the cell itself the lysosome will do its part. I really thanked God giving me an opportunity to study in the level of science like these so that when I go to college I won't have any hard time coping up and also giving me enough wisdom to surpass the lessons. Thank you for viewing!

Lipids

All I can say for our lesson this week is that lipids are much easier to study comparing proteins and amino acids because of their complicated building blocks. Lipids are the substances that makes our skin warm however too much of it can cause chronic diseases mainly heart attack, stroke, and obesity. It is also known as fats and can be found in saturated and unsaturated fats like glycerol and cholesterol. In order to avoid these diseases that commonly killed billions of people everyday we must have a healthy lifestyle that will serve as a habit in order to live life to the fullest.

Regarding its structures it looks complicated, but in reality it's not. All you have to do is just know the positions and the number of carbon atoms that a fatty acid needs such as buttanic acid requiring 4 carbon atoms meaning when writting its structure you must write from left to right 4 Cs and with its first C draw a covalent bond with O and a single bond with H then the other Cs will have Hs on the top and on the bottom having a single bond but the final C will have an H on the left side. So it states : CH3(CH2)2COOH

Proteins & Amino Acids

The structures of proteins and polypeptides are much more complicated than I ever thought comparing to carbohydrates. Especially when studying polypeptides are the ones giving you serious headaches. But amino acids, on the other hand, is much easier. The only thing you have to do is to just memorize its parent's structures composed of CH2 on the left side, COOH on the right side, and H at the top. The rest depends on the type of amino acid you want to write then express it on the bottom and then make sure that the bond between the hydrogen, carbon and oxygen are equally to 4. And also, one thing that I had a hard time is studying DNA & RNA. Well you could say that it's easy at first because we all know from basic biology that RNA is single-stranded and DNA is double-stranded. But the further you go, your nose will bleed and must really make time to fully understand how the structures are formed and identify its phosphate group, nitrogenous base, and 5-carbon simple molecules which is very confusing most of the time. All that I can say is that I hope I can cope up with the lessons regarding this topic and understand relatively how they are formed. Thank you for viewing!

Monossacharides & Dissacharides

It's only this year that I have learned how biologists write each structures of a monossacharide combining of the two to form a dissacharide. For me, it's really amazing how they were able to come up with it. I have learned that monossacharides are mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen forming with different positions such as glucose, fructose, and galactose. Forming dissacharides, on the other hand, is a bit complicated to learn but as you tackle/review covalent bonds it won't be that hard. I hope that I could memorize each of the monossacharide's structure in order to understand how to write a dissacharide structure in many different ways. Thank you once again for viewing and God Bless!

Medical Terms

What could I say about our biology class is that it's way too advanced comparing our previous class with sir e. Though it's complicated and a bit difficult at first to memorize and understand the terms required for undergoing deeper concepts I thanked God that He gave me enough knowledge and wisdom to complete my assignments properly and at the same time to fully understand each medical term's opposites such as superior-inferior, posterior-anterior, and superficial-deep. And especially during our practice exam regarding the different parts of the body writing its medical term e.g. orbital (eye cavity) that I was also able to memorize them but it was easy because its terms are very familiar from other lower-level sciences. I hope that I can gradually manage my brain capacity to study and pass the exams. That's all and thank you for viewing! :)