Saturday, April 30, 2011
Objective 30: Understand how heart valves ensure one-way blood flow during systole and diastole
Where would we be without heart valves? My best guess would be that our heart wouldn't complete systole and diastole correctly, and our heart wouldn't be able to function. Which means a very bad day! The valves in our heart ensure one-way flow of blood, and that is very important to its function! Without these valves the blood flow would back flow into other sections of the heart that they aren't suppose to be in, for example back into the atrium from the ventricles. The textbook was a great reference, and the lecture outline was a great summary of the hearts valves. When I was looking for a good diagram to back-up the textbook's information, I referred to chapter 17 pages 587-588 which provided a diagram of the AV valves and another diagram of the semilunar valves. Each diagram shows the direction of the blood flow into the heart and the blood flow through the valves. They describe how the valves are either forced open or stay closed to make sure that the blood flows one way and does not backflow. These photos were all I needed to understand this concept and I'm glad they were apart of my textbook.
Objective 74: Distinguish between diploid germ cells and haploid sex cells
Understanding mitosis and meiosis has always been an ongoing battle for me. For some reason when I first learned this concept I always got the two mixed up. I found this chart from chapter 26 page 899 that helped me in figuring out the differences between the diploid cell and the haploid cell. Well, I couldn't get a good picture of it from my camera ( I don't have a scanner) so I used the photo from the lecture outlines, but the photo and information is still the same. I promise. This photo also severed a double purpose because it helps me understand mitosis and meiosis. It never hurts to learn extra information!
So, basically the two cells go like this.
Diploid= Double. There are 46 chromosomes in each diploid cell
Haploid=Half. There are 23 chromosomes in each haploid cell
Through fertilization, two haploid cells combine to produce a zygote. The zygote has now two sets of 23 chromosomes. So 23+23= 46. The zygote now has 46 chromosomes and is a diploid cell. I'm glad that I finally figured out the difference between the diploid and haploid cells. All I seemed to need was a little math.
This video also reinforces the information that the textbook and class lectures gave me about diploid and haploid cells. Still, having an animated diagram allows me to have a visual to remember the information by.
Objective 65: State the importance of juxtaglomerular cells in secretion of renin
There wasn't too much information on this topic, but I still relied on the textbook and class lectures to understand this objective. I really did stress myself out on this objective, but it really wasn't as hard as I made it seem. I referred to chapter 15 page 539 and chapter 25 page 845 to help me figure this information out. This is what I concluded from the information I read. There are juxtaglomerular cells are enlarged, smooth muscle cells with secretory granules containing renin. These cells become excited when blood pressure falls, and the response is to release renin in the blood. Renin initiates the release of aldosterone to help blood pressure return to normal. There wasn't too much to go on for this topic, but these passages that I did locate aided me in understanding the concept.
Objective 63 & 66: Urinary system
Objective 63: Describe the structure and function of renal corpuscles and renal tubules
Objective 66: Identify the three basic tasks performed by the nephrons and collecting ducts, and indicate where each task occurs
Anything that has to do with the nephrons is definately not my department at all. When you take an overview of the whole structure, its way more than any normal person can swallow. I never knew that such a small section of our body, microscopic small since there are about one million nephrons per kidney, could play such an important factor in our body and urine secretion. It's common sense that our bodies have to secrete waste, but I never sat and wondered how our body actually accomplished this until now. The textbooks and lectures gave a great deal of information on these topics that were not only informative, but very confusing. So I set out to find something that would better summarize this tangled mess of nephrons that our body has. I found this video on Youtube that was absolutely amazing in describing not only the structure and functions of the renal corpuscles and renal tubules, but it also gave great information about the functions of the nephrons and collecting ducts. Anything diagram that has animation showing me how the process works is helpful for me.
So basically, the nephrons functions are filtration, secretion, and reabsorption. The collecting ducts are responsible for collecting all materials that has not returned to the blood through tubular membranes. This material will exit the body as urine. Filtration occurs in the renal corpuscle. The glomerulus filters protein and cells from the blood, and then all other blood components go into the Bowman's capsule. Secretion and reabsorbtion occurs in the U-shaped tubule. The semipermeable membranes surrounding the tubule allow certain particles to reabsorbed back into the blood or from the blood into the tubule.
Objective 66: Identify the three basic tasks performed by the nephrons and collecting ducts, and indicate where each task occurs
Anything that has to do with the nephrons is definately not my department at all. When you take an overview of the whole structure, its way more than any normal person can swallow. I never knew that such a small section of our body, microscopic small since there are about one million nephrons per kidney, could play such an important factor in our body and urine secretion. It's common sense that our bodies have to secrete waste, but I never sat and wondered how our body actually accomplished this until now. The textbooks and lectures gave a great deal of information on these topics that were not only informative, but very confusing. So I set out to find something that would better summarize this tangled mess of nephrons that our body has. I found this video on Youtube that was absolutely amazing in describing not only the structure and functions of the renal corpuscles and renal tubules, but it also gave great information about the functions of the nephrons and collecting ducts. Anything diagram that has animation showing me how the process works is helpful for me.
So basically, the nephrons functions are filtration, secretion, and reabsorption. The collecting ducts are responsible for collecting all materials that has not returned to the blood through tubular membranes. This material will exit the body as urine. Filtration occurs in the renal corpuscle. The glomerulus filters protein and cells from the blood, and then all other blood components go into the Bowman's capsule. Secretion and reabsorbtion occurs in the U-shaped tubule. The semipermeable membranes surrounding the tubule allow certain particles to reabsorbed back into the blood or from the blood into the tubule.
Objective 75 & 77: The menstural cycle and the corpus luetum
Objective 75: Explain what happens during follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle
Objective 77: Recognize that a blastocyst secretes human gonadotrophin, which prolongs the life of the corpus luetum
When I read this objective, I really believed that it was going to be a no brainer and I could just breeze right through it. But boy, was I wrong! There is a lot more to the menstrual cycle that I previously believed there to be. I honestly don't give my body enough credit, even though I'm pretty sure that all of us women would rather not have to deal with this very precious "gift" mother nature decides to give us. The textbook gave alot of great information regarding this topic, but there was way more information than I could comprehend. I never knew there was so much work when it came to our periods each month! The lecture outlines did a great job in summarizing the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. There is a chart in chapter 26 page 920, that really did reinforce the information, but it was kind of hard to take a clear picture of the chart so instead I borrowed them from our chapter 26 lecture outline. These charts inform you about the fluctuation of gonadotrophin levels, the ovarian cycle, the fluctuation of ovarian hormone levels, and a summary of the three phases of the uterine cycle. Wow, there is so much going on here!
Objective 77: Recognize that a blastocyst secretes human gonadotrophin, which prolongs the life of the corpus luetum
When I read this objective, I really believed that it was going to be a no brainer and I could just breeze right through it. But boy, was I wrong! There is a lot more to the menstrual cycle that I previously believed there to be. I honestly don't give my body enough credit, even though I'm pretty sure that all of us women would rather not have to deal with this very precious "gift" mother nature decides to give us. The textbook gave alot of great information regarding this topic, but there was way more information than I could comprehend. I never knew there was so much work when it came to our periods each month! The lecture outlines did a great job in summarizing the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. There is a chart in chapter 26 page 920, that really did reinforce the information, but it was kind of hard to take a clear picture of the chart so instead I borrowed them from our chapter 26 lecture outline. These charts inform you about the fluctuation of gonadotrophin levels, the ovarian cycle, the fluctuation of ovarian hormone levels, and a summary of the three phases of the uterine cycle. Wow, there is so much going on here!
Along with this helpful information from our textbook, I still was having a difficult time understanding all of the steps involved within the menstural cycle. The speaker is a little mono-tone I think, but he summarizes the information on the phases of the menstural cycle and also shows where on the charts the cycle is occuring. He actually breaks the cycle into 4 phases which was a little different then what the book said, but either way this video was helpful in reinforcing what I heard in lecture and read from the book. The video sums up the menstrual cycle perfectly when it states that it is "a complicated hormonal phenomenon". I wouldn't disagree with that logic!
I believe that objective 77 fits very nicely with the menstural cycle, because if fertilization occurs then the blastocyst implants and the corpus luetum prepares for pregnancy. But let's back up here a bit. Human Gonadotrophin is very important in prolonging the lifespan of the corpus luetum. If fertilization occurs, the implanted blastocyst secretes human gonadotrophin, which then effects the corpus luetum. The corpus luetum then secretes estrogen and progesterone until the placenta develps. If fertilization does not occur, the corpus luetum degenerates and the uterine lining sloughs off. The book doesn't do a good job of explaining this whole process to me, but this picture here gives me a little more insight.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Objective 25, 26, & 28: Physiology, Cardiac cycle, and ECG
Objective 25: Recall physiology of heart and blood vessels
Objective 26: Review the cardiac cycle as it relates to the electrical conducting system
Objective 28: Explain the meaning of an electrocardiogram and its diagnostic importance
Although the textbook gave some wonderful information about ECGs and the physiology of heart and blood vessels, it still was alot of information to wrap my head around. There were two diagrams from the textbook that helped me out with understanding the deflection waves of an ECG tracing (Chapter 17 page 595) and the summary of events during the cardiac cycle (Chapter 17 page 597). The textbook provided alot of detailed information of these two process, but all the information was making my head spin. So I started looking around on the internet and found two different videos that not only accurately summarized ECGs, cardiac cycle, and physiology but it provided animated diagrams. These animated diagrams, along with the information with the text book, allowed me to have a better understanding and I don't feel as lost. This first video is a little more simple and basically goes over the physiology of the heart and vessels and describes the meaning of an ECG.
The second video called Your Heart's Electrical Sysyem is a little more informative, and does a great job of explaining how the cardiac cycle relates to the electrical conducting system. I really wish that this video would have shown up on the site, but either way I was really glad that I came across it. An electrocardiogram is an important tool because it is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the heart. Without it, we wouldn't be able to find out heart problems we may have or problems with the heart's conduction system.
Objective 26: Review the cardiac cycle as it relates to the electrical conducting system
Objective 28: Explain the meaning of an electrocardiogram and its diagnostic importance
Although the textbook gave some wonderful information about ECGs and the physiology of heart and blood vessels, it still was alot of information to wrap my head around. There were two diagrams from the textbook that helped me out with understanding the deflection waves of an ECG tracing (Chapter 17 page 595) and the summary of events during the cardiac cycle (Chapter 17 page 597). The textbook provided alot of detailed information of these two process, but all the information was making my head spin. So I started looking around on the internet and found two different videos that not only accurately summarized ECGs, cardiac cycle, and physiology but it provided animated diagrams. These animated diagrams, along with the information with the text book, allowed me to have a better understanding and I don't feel as lost. This first video is a little more simple and basically goes over the physiology of the heart and vessels and describes the meaning of an ECG.
The second video called Your Heart's Electrical Sysyem is a little more informative, and does a great job of explaining how the cardiac cycle relates to the electrical conducting system. I really wish that this video would have shown up on the site, but either way I was really glad that I came across it. An electrocardiogram is an important tool because it is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the heart. Without it, we wouldn't be able to find out heart problems we may have or problems with the heart's conduction system.
Objective 29, & 33: Heart and Blood vessels
Objective 29:Compare the structure and function of arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins Objective 33: Describe the role of skeletal muscle contractions and venous valves in returning blood to the heart
When I was trying to understand the structure and functions of the arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins , it almost overwhelmed me. I never realized how much there was to our bodies amazing system. My thought taking anatomy was that our body just had these set of veins and arteries that helped moved oxygen and carbon dioxide through our blood, but I never realized how much they branched off and how each one functions differently. I found a chart in Chapter 18 page 608 that summarized the structure of all of these vessels and it gave me a better understand on what they look like in our body, and I was also able to understand better on how each one functions. Another diagram that really broke down the structure of veins and arteries was found on page 606, and it helped to see the differents layers they consisted of. Along with the diagrams from our textbook, the lecture outlines were a great help in summarizing the functions on all 5 of the vessels. Arteries carry oxygenated (oxygen rich) blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Veins do the opposite it seems, and carries deoxgenated (oxygen-poor) blood from the tissues to the heart and sends the blood through the pulmonary system to be oxygenated again. Arterioles lead to capillary beds and control the flow into the capillary beds via vasodilation and vasoconstriction. Capillaries are responsible for the exchange of gases, hormones, nutrients, wastes, etc.. Venules drain blood from capillaries into veins for the return to the heart.
When I was trying to understand the structure and functions of the arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins , it almost overwhelmed me. I never realized how much there was to our bodies amazing system. My thought taking anatomy was that our body just had these set of veins and arteries that helped moved oxygen and carbon dioxide through our blood, but I never realized how much they branched off and how each one functions differently. I found a chart in Chapter 18 page 608 that summarized the structure of all of these vessels and it gave me a better understand on what they look like in our body, and I was also able to understand better on how each one functions. Another diagram that really broke down the structure of veins and arteries was found on page 606, and it helped to see the differents layers they consisted of. Along with the diagrams from our textbook, the lecture outlines were a great help in summarizing the functions on all 5 of the vessels. Arteries carry oxygenated (oxygen rich) blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Veins do the opposite it seems, and carries deoxgenated (oxygen-poor) blood from the tissues to the heart and sends the blood through the pulmonary system to be oxygenated again. Arterioles lead to capillary beds and control the flow into the capillary beds via vasodilation and vasoconstriction. Capillaries are responsible for the exchange of gases, hormones, nutrients, wastes, etc.. Venules drain blood from capillaries into veins for the return to the heart.
When I was trying to understand what the role of skeletal muscle contractions and venous valves had to do with returning blood back to the heart, I came up with a blank. When I came across the diagram in chapter 18 page 614, it was like a light bulb came on and I felt really stupid for thinking that the concept was hard. I made it alot harder than it really was. The picture was extremely helpful and allowed me to see how the skeletal muscle effects the venous valves. Basically, the contracting skeletal muscle presses against a vein which causes the valves near the area to be forced open. Blood then goes toward the heart and the valves distal to the contracted area are closed by backflow blood. The concept was so easy, and it is also a very important adaptation of veins.
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