Homeostasis Lab!!!

Hello there! This is a post about the Homeostasis lab I did with Kendra, Nika, Katrina, and Sierra...our goal was to record Katrina's heartbeat and temperature before and after she sat in an ice bath for a certain amount of time. Before she got in the ice bath her temperature was at normal body temperature and her heart rate was normal also. As she got into the ice bath her heartbeat and temperature decreased, her heart was trying to make her body warmer while her temperature was dropping at the same time. This lab was very fun and I enjoyed working with my partners.!

A big thanks to Kendra for the pic!

Pig Heart Dissection

Before

We had the opportunity to dissect an actual pig heart in class recently! I had a lot of fun doing it but i forgot to take pictures because I had dirty hands from the dissection, so I used some pictures from Bethany's dissection. Thanks! I enjoyed the heart dissection because it was a great experience to see what it all looks like, I sort of felt like a surgeon when I was doing it. It helped me to learn about it more in depth and finding all the parts helped me memorize it a little bit even though I didn't do well on the test. That was just a brief description of the heart dissection that we did in class. Hope you enjoyed!

After

Virtual Leech Lab

Have you ever been to the lake or the mountains with your family and they always tell you to watch out for leeches? These gross worm looking things give me the chills and just ruin the fun when they're on your mind. We were able to do a virtual leech lab on our computers and basically see what kind of cell structure the leeches have. Leeches are 'worms' with suckers on each end. Leeches can range in size from from a half of inch to ten inches long. They are brown or black in color. Some feed on decaying plant material. Others are parasites, feeding on blood and tissue of other animals. Blood-sucking leeches suck your blood using two ways: they use a proboscis to puncture your skin, or they use their three jaws and millions of little teeth. They live just about anywhere where is water. Leeches find you by detecting skin oils, blood, heat, or even the carbon dioxide you breathe out. Leeches do not feed often. This is because they take in a big amount of blood when they feed.

 Step 1: Catch and anesthetized the leech in 20% Ethanol solution

 Step 2: Pin the dorsal side up through the anterior and posterior suckers onto the dissection tray stretching the leech in the process

 Step 3: With the scissors make a cut through the skin along the mid line on the dorsal surface don't go too deep. Next using the forceps carefully pull the skin apart along the cut and than pin down the left & right side.(inside of skin facing up). This will open the leech so you can see the digestive,excretory, and reproductive organs. The nervous system amount show yet because it's located ventrally.

 Step 4: Carefully remove the gut and other internal structures to expose the centrally located nerve cord.The nervous system will be located within the ventral sinus (dark green).

Step 5: Place the leech under the dissection microscope. You will see swellings up and down the sinus. These swellings contain the segmental ganglia of the nervous system. To make them accessible first cut the body wall underneath a ganglion. Make sure you don't damage the nerve cord or any other nerve attached

 Step 6: You will want to isolate a section of the leech. Do this by making two parallel cuts. (perpendicular to the anterior-posterior axis)be sure the side you remove has at least one ganglion. Then,with the forceps flip the piece of skin over so the outer skin is facing up. Pin this down.

Step7: Place this piece of the leech again under the dissection microscope. Cut the sinus with an ultra fine scalpel. ( if this was done in "real" life we would use fine forceps to be sure the ganglion don't get damaged).

Step 8: This is the point we been all waiting for the nervous system.This is when we simulate the process penetrating the cell. To do the penetrating we will use feather, probe or forceps. Weak (feather), medium (probe), strong (forceps) or any stimulus

Step 9: look at the morphology of the neuron from which you have just recorded, by using the Dye Injection and UV on the amplifier system

Step 10:  Try to identify the cell based on published data. There are many cells in different locations of this ganglion. Repeat the whole procedure for as many cells as you would like.

Thank you Sierra Romero for the steps to the dissection!

Epithelial Tissue!

In this activity we were given cards with different types of epithelial tissues. With these cards, we arranged them into a simple squamous, a simple cuboidal, a simple columnar, a stratified squamous, a stratified cuboidal, a stratified columnar, and transitional.

(Left to Right; Cullen, Mandi, Bethany, Aricka, and Katrina)

- A simple squamous epithelial is a single layer of flattened cells with disc-shaped nuclei and sparse cytoplasm.

- Simple squamous epithelial cells function as mediators of filtration and diffusion. Due to their simple and thin construct, they allow for easy transmembrane movement of small molecules. The types of proteins that are present in a given simple squamous epithelial tissue partially determines the function of the tissue.

- As could be expected, simple squamous epithelium is found in locations where rapid diffusion or filtration take place. For example, it can be found in the kidney glomeruli, lining of the heart, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and serosae or lining of ventral body cavity.

(Left to Right; Cullen, Aricka, Tiffany, Sierra, Nika, and Mandi)

- A simple cuboidal epithelial is a single layer of cubelike cells with large, spherical central nuclei.

- By lining the surface of various ducts or various glands and organs, simple cuboidal calls are able to provide a layer of protection from abrasion, foreign particles, invading bacteria and excessive water loss to the underlying tissue.

- Simple cuboidal epithelium lines the surface of small excretory ducts in various organs and glands in the body, compose some of the kidney tubules in the kortex of the kidney, and create the covering of the ovary.

(Left to Right; Zach(Me), Cullen, Aricka, Bethany, Mandi, Sierra, Nika, LeAnn, and Trevor)

- A simple columnar epithelial is a single layer of tall cells with oval nuclei; many contain cilia.

- The main function of simple columnar epithelial cells are protection, but they can also specialize to secret mucus that coats and protects the surrounding surface from damage. Lastly, simple columnar epithelium are very good at absorbing and transporting nutrients from multiple locations.

-Simple columnar epithelial cells are some of the most prolific cells in the body, mainly because they can fulfill so many functions. They are found throughout the body’s organ system, including the digestive tract and the female reproductive system. They are also found in the respiratory system, including the nasal passage.

(Top to Bottom; Top: Tiffany, Bethany: Bottom: Cullen, Aricka)

- A transitional epithelial is several cell layer, the basal cells being cuboidal and the surface cells being dome-shaped.

- Some functions of the transitional epithelium cells: accommodates fluctuation of volume of the liquid in an organ or tube (i.e. urinary bladder), and protection against the caustic effects of urine.

- Transitional epithelium is found lining the ureters, urinary  bladder, and part of the urethra.

(Left to Right; Aricka, Mandi, Bethany, and Tiffany)

- A pseudostrarified columnar epithelial is a single layer of cells with different heights; some do not reach the free surface. Also, the nuclei is seen at different layers.

-Function in secretion and propulsion of mucus

-Mainly, present in male sperm-carrying ducts(nonciliated) and the trachea (ciliated).

(Aricka on top of Tiffany, Sierra on top of Bethany)

-A stratified squamous epithelial is a thick membrane composed of several layer of cells.The cells gradually become  larger and more squamous as the cells migrate from the basal layer to the apical  layer.

-Stratified squamous epithelia are specialized to withstand the  mechanical stresses of abrasion. The apical layers of epithelial are designed to  give way to abrasive forces, protecting the deeper tissues from the mechanical  stress. As the apical layers of cells give way, they are continuously replaced  by the deeper layers of epithelial cells, all of which are derived from the  highly mitotic cuboidal cells of the basal layer.

-It can be found in areas such as the esophagus, mouth, and the outer portion of  the skin (epidermis).

(Top to Bottom; Aricka, Mandi, Cullen, Bethany)

- A stratified cuboidal epithelial is quite rare in the human body, but is usually two cell layers thick.

- Does not have an absorptive or secretory function but provides a more robust lining than that of simple epithelium.

- It is less common than other types of epithelial tissue, and it has several locations in the body: sweat gland ducts; egg-producing vesicles, or follicles, of the ovaries; and sperm-producing ducts, or seminiferous tubules, of the testis.

- A stratified epithelial has limited distibution in the body, but is composed of column shaped cells arranged in  multiple layers

- Protection is really the main function of stratified columnar because

- They can be found in the pharynx, male urethra, and lining some glandular ducts.

A big thank you to Aricka for the pictures and information!

Integumentary System!

The Integumentary System better known as skin consists of three or more mayor regions. You're skin actually goes a lot deeper than you think. The three regions of the skin are the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The epidermis is the outermost superficial region, the dermis is the middle region, and the hypodermis  is the deepest region of the skin. 

The epidermis is composed of keratinized stratified squamos epithelium, that consists of four different cell types and four of five layers. The cell types include kerationocytes, melanocytes, Merkel cels, and Langerhan's cells. The outer portion of the skin is exposed to the external environment and functions in protection. Since the epidermis is the top layer of skin, you shed skin every day without even knowing it! In the epidermis, there are different layers within it. The first is the Stratum Basale layer, usually just known as the Basal layer. It is the deepest epidermal layer, attached firmly to the dermis, and also consists of a single row of the youngest keratinocytes. The cells in the Basal Layer undergo rapid division. The next layer in the epidermis is the Stratum Spinosum, a.k.a the Prickly Layer. The cells in this layer have a weblike system of intermediate filaments attached to desmosomes. Melanin granules and Langerhans' cells are really big in this layer. The layer after that is the Stratum Granulosum (Granular Layer). This layer is a very thin layer that has three to five cell layers in which major changes in keratinocyte appearance happens. Keratohyaline and lamellated granules build up in the cells of this layer. Next is the Stratum Lucidum a.k.a as the clear layer. This layer is a very thin, transparent band superficial to the stratum granulosum. It is a few rows of dead, flat keratinocytes. It is only present in thick skin. The last layer of the epidermis is the Stratum Corneum a.k.a the Horny Layer, yes i know that is a funny name. This layer is the outermost layer of keratinized cells, and it accounts for three quarters of the thickness of the epidermis. It's functions include: protection from abrasion and penetration, waterproofing, and rendering the body relatively insensitive to biological, chemical, and physical assaults.
     The next major layer below the epidermis is the Dermis that has strong, and flexible connective tissue. The cels in this layer include fibroblasts, macrophages, and sometimes have mast cells and white blood cells. This layer consists of two layers, papillary and reticular. The papillary layer has Areolar connective tissue with collagen and elastic fibers. Its surface has peg like projections called dermal papillae. Dermal papillae contains capillary loops, Meissner's corpuscles, and free nerve endings. The reticular layer accounts for about 80% of the thickness of the skin, and has collagen fibers that add strength and resiliency to the skin. Elastin fibers provide stretch-recoil properties.
     The Hypodermis is the deepest layer of your skin, and it is composed of adipose and areolar connective tissue.

Skeleton Labeling Contest!

            This activity was very fun and more competitive than I thought it would be. I though it was going to be difficult to memorize my section of the skeleton. I also had a great group who helped me out a lot and gave me confidence in what we were doing. Our group memorized I think it was 134 bones and we won the competition by a long shot. I like doing group activities like this because I am quite competitive and it motivates me to try my best and learn as much as I can. All in all I couldn't have done as good as I did without my group members. I hope you enjoyed this brief description of the skeleton labeling contest.

Homeostasis

        Hello! Welcome to my Anatomy blog! This first post is going to be about homeostasis and the picture above is a Homeostatic Control System Chart.

I'm going to give you a short description of what homeostasis is and how it works. Hope you enjoy!

        The tendency of an organism or cell to regulate its internal conditions, such as chemical composition of its body fluids, so as to maintain health and functioning, regardless of outside conditions. In humans, homeostasis happens when the body regulates body temperature in effort to maintain an internal temperature of about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Most homeostatic regulation is controlled by the release of hormones into the bloodstream. However, other regulatory processes rely on simple diffusion to maintain a balance. The picture if the spider is an example of a cold blooded creature on a warm blooded hand.