Trip to badlapur

      We had visited Badlapur on 31st August 2013. I had boarded the 8:40 AM train from Byculla as all of us had planned to eventually board that train as and when it came to the railway station nearest to our house. It was scheduled to reach Badlapur at 9:55 AM. I was made the treasurer of the batch.
      I had travelled by rickshaw with most other friends.... we had told him Aanganwaadi but he took us to Aaganwaadi, which was like far ahead from our actual destination! In Aaganwaadi, we were left at a school for young children. We visited the school and greeted the teacher and children.
     After a while, we realised that we were supposed to reach Aanganwaadi! We thought we would walk it up. On the way, we got into a truck as a free lift and reached our destination! I will never forget the awesome experience we had in that truck ride!
     We then met the rest of our friends at the Aanganwaadi Centre
     Theoretically, there is one Aanganwaadi worker for a population of 400 to 600 under the ICDS (INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SCHEME) The PHC we visited offered outreach services such as immunization, basic curative care services, and maternal and child health services. There was an elderly lady present, who was explaining to us in detail the way in which the PHC would take care of the children under it's reach.
      We were shown a vaccination record book where the names of the children under the care of that Aanganwaadi Centre were written in one column and the vaccines they had gotten in the subsequent columns. Every Child was made to take the appropriate vaccine at the appropriate time after birth. This was as per the national immunisation schedule. It thus included vaccines such as BCG, DPT, OPV, HBV, Measles, tetanus toxoid and Vitamin A.
      Malnutrition kills around 4 million children every year - 1 child every 8 seconds. Aanganwaadi workers try to solve this problem too. They weigh every child at regular intervals under their surveillance and plot their weight and age on a growth monitoring chart. The chart was conveniently divided into 3 regions - topmost was a Green area then Below it was a yellow one and even below that was a red area. The Green area signified that the child was receiving a good amount of nutrition, while the yellow area indicated moderate acute malnutrition and the red area indicated severe acute malnutrition. Which area the child fell in depended on his age-weight plotted in the graph... this made it easy to understand for the villagers. There was one more condition-the graph should go on ascending and not stay horizontal or descend - as both indicate malnutrition. Most of the graphs we had seen were horizontal or ascending slightly. There was a whole book filled with such graph pages.
     The lady also told us about a child with severe acute malnutrition who was brought there and how she went about saving the child. He was one of the children we had seen that day. We then heard each child sing, gave them sweets, thanked the people there and left.
     We also visited a centre for the mentally retarded. There were people of all ages. When people would eat together, there would be a few others who would really trouble others and so they were locked inside rooms all alone with a grill to see others. We also gave the people in charge food packets to distribute among the inmates.
    That way our trip ended. We really enjoyed and I shall always remember every moment of that trip!
     
    

Noise Pollution

     The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term noise as 'a sound or a series of sounds that is loud or unpleasant'. It is something no one would desire to hear all day. Noise pollution happens when noise goes above 80 decibels. Noise over 120 dB can cause hearing damage.
     All this being stated, I would like to quote what Mother Teresa had once said about noise....

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence.  See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.... We need silence to be able to touch souls." ~Mother Teresa

      The situation in my locality is completely different. There is always a lot of noise that one has to bear hearing all day and night. Sometimes, one can hear men fighting and screaming at each other,  sometimes we hear our tank getting filled, which itself is very noisy.
     Sometimes, the noise that beggars make - they walk armed with a mike in their hand, while their colleague (another beggar) holds the speaker. Then the beggar walks very slowly on the road, singing stupid, irritating songs. They actually recite 2 lines and repeat them over and over again, making sure that their speakers are set at full volume - such hypocrits! They have the cash to buy speakers and power them for full volume every Sunday but when it comes to begging, they pretend like they've got no cash.
     But all this is nothing compared to the noise cars make when they constantly go on and on honking without stopping - and not just one car, but one whole line of cars and bikes honking at each other continuously! That too every second of the day! How frustrating!
     It's actually not the car owners' fault. Neither is it that the road is too thin. In fact, it is one of the widest roads in Mumbai I've ever seen! It is the fault of the vendors who illegally sell bags, suitcases and fruits. They don't even belong to the city! They occupy the width of the road FIVE cars would easily fit in!! Twice the width of a car on the road goes in their handcarts (fruit vendor's handcart) that they sleep on. There are two rows of such handcarts on the road. As we go further on the road, we find that clothes vendors have also encroached upon the road in addition to the fruit vendors. This narrows the road even more. Another two rows of handcarts for selling fruits on two opposite sides of the road. And one more row to accomodate the bag vendors. So that, at any point of time, only one car can go on the road that is supposed to accommodate 6 cars if only those vendors were gotten rid of!
     On the road, vehicles ply in both directions, but with great difficulty, arguement and a desire never to drive on that road again. You can imagine how much of a hassle it gets when a bus goes through. In fact, cabs will never go on that road just because there is this kind of madness.
     The vendor business is illegal and so no one can blame the law for these hawkers. Municipal vans come everyday to snatch away whatever goods they can and shoo away the hawkers. But when the municipal vans leave at night, they somehow come to know and set up their bag shops and get their handcarts again - they buy handcarts probably in rent or they might be borrowing money from friends or they might be rich enough to buy new handcarts again and again - something drives these people to go on with their business.
     When they return, nobody dares to complain, because they try their best to find out who complained, and attack the poor guy. My aunt who lives further in the road, had once seen a poor man holding a pistol and running after another man and nobody on the road dared to do anything lest they get shot. Once a lady had complained about these hawkers and they all unitedly went and pounced on her somewhere - and she was nowhere to be seen again. These hawkers are such perverts - while walking on the road if they happen to see a lady walking in the opposite direction they will purposely  go and dash their shoulder against the lady - and say that they did it by mistake.
      When we were small, our neighbours had a funny way of getting rid of noise made by beggars, who used to come much, much more often at that time. They would fill balloons with cold water, aim and throw it at beggars holding mikes through their window. If the shot missed, they would tell the victims to call that beggar. The beggars would panic in shock for a moment, and then the neighbours used to call their mother who would shout at the hawkers in a really insulting manner and make them leave quietly. It used to be such a relief during exams when their begging using mikes at FULL volume would disturb us a lot. But sadly, our neighbours grew up. They are not children any more, so they don't throw water balloons at beggars. But their aim used to be perfect. They would almost always be able to land the balloon on the slow-walking beggar.
     Yeah... and so the beggars became a rarity nowadays. But the vendors haven't disappeared as yet. The vendors are like those really adamant flies. When we try to shoo the fly away, it won't go away easily. But then when it finally flies away, as soon as we go away, it comes back to the same spot we shooed it away from. And no one is relieved by the fact that house flies have a life span of a month - because when they die, their children take over and harass us.
     I just wish that those hawkers give us a break and go away to find some other job. But this hope seems impossible. It seems like as if one of the widest roads in Mumbai will never be able to accommodate vehicles to it's full capacity ever. It is not like there are few vehicles on that road. A lot of vehicles keep going on the road every moment. The road is always full of traffic and people honking at and abusing each other when actually the vendors are at fault. To save their necks, the vendors take part in the fight too and abuse the one who seems less frightening, because they want to win the fight.
     And no, don't ever do the mistake of thinking the vendors are doing us a big favour by selling their goods. They keep very high prices for their fake, low quality goods. So no one ever buys goods from them. They are always seen sitting near their handcart doing nothing. It also spoils the whole scenery. Plus, they smoke, so the air gets polluted. They also chew tobacco and spit on the road.
     As I had mentioned in my earlier post, people in our building get irritated and leave their flats in one month to live in a more peaceful, comfortable environment. Most of the occupants of our building are on rent... they too will leave the place after some time.... so I get to see new faces every month. So none of them care about the detoriating building management. In fact, in the building meetings, these people on rent make up the majority. And they say 'Yes' to whatever selfish decisions the self-appointed manager makes as they know that they won't have to stay in the building for long. But since the majority has agreed, the decision is considered final.
     But then it is said,  " If you can't get rid of something, learn to live with it." This is what we are practising. It is really sad, but we have no other choice. There is a lot of noise in the area despite a hospital being on the same road!!
    

T.S. of brain at different levels

   The brain is extensively studied using cut sections of the brain at different levels. This helps us easily understand the relations of varied structures such as nuclei, ventricles, etc. to one another.
   This study of brain at various levels also helps interpret CT Scan reports as we can see the normal structure of the ventricles or which nuclei and tracts are affected by a particular lesion.
   It also makes the study of the brain very systematic and comprehensible. I hope that you, the readers found all this information useful. :)

T.S. of Spinal cord

   The spinal cord is a tube like structure protected in the vertebral column. It does not show any cranial nerve nuclei but very important tracts pass through it.
   You will be surprised to learn that the spinal cord is less than a finger in thickness. Yet it is able to carry out it's functions perfectly. The spinal cord, if injured, can have serious consequences. An example of such serious consequences is sciatica.
   The spinal cord at different levels shows such considerable differences that even looking at an H&E ( hematoxylin and eosin ) stained slide of the spinal cord without the aid of a microscope, seeing the shape of the inner grey matter and the size of the oval, one can easily judge whether the section was taken at the cervical, thoracic, lumbar or sacral level.
   I would like to apologise again for the short forms used, but their long forms are -
HypoS=Hypothalamo Spinal
PSC=Posterior Spino Cerebellar
ASC=Anterior Spino Cerebellar
LST=Lateral Spino Thalamic
SO=Spino Olivary
AST=Ascending Spino Thalamic
LReS=Lateral Reticulo Spinal
MReS=Medial Reticulo Spinal
LCS=Lateral Cortico Spinal
RS= Reticulo Spinal
OS=Olivio Spinal
VS=Vestibulo Spinal
TS=Tecto Spinal
ACS=Anterior Cortico Spinal

T.S. of Midbrain

   The midbrain is the most cranial part of the brainstem.  It is divided into 2 parts - tectum and cerebral peduncle.
   The tectum is made up of the superior and inferior colliculi. The superior colliculi are involved in visual reflexes whole the inferior colliculi are involved in auditory reflexes.
   The cerebral peduncles are divided into the following, going from anterior to posterior - CST (mnemonic), i.e., crus cerebri, substantia nigra and tegmentum. The decrease in dopamine in the substantia nigra is known to cause Parkinson's Disease.
   The diagram shows a section of the midbrain at the level of the superior colliculus. I am again really sorry for my abbreviations.... here is their full form -
RF=Reticular Formation
M,T,S=Medial, Trigeminal,  Spinal lemniscus
MLB=Medial Longitudinal Bundle
TD=Tegmental Decussation

T.S. of Pons Varolli

   The pons varolli lies just cranial to the medulla oblongata. It is about an inch long.
    In section the pons shows cerebellar peduncles which connect the cerebellum to the pons and midbrain. The pons contains many important cranial neve nuclei. It also contains the pneumotaxic centre.
   The pneumotaxic center mediates the change from inspiration to expiration. You must be wondering : How does the pneumotaxic centre perform this function? Well, the process is really simple. The diaphragm is the main muscle that causes inspiration. It is a dome - shaped muscle that lies attached to the inner surfaces of the lower ribs. When it contacts, the summit of the dome is pulled downwards, thus increasing the size of the thoracic cavity. Thus the bases of the lungs expand downwards and they expand. Normally the diaphragm summit descends by around 1.5 cm in quiet breathing but can descend upto 7cm in deep breathing. The diaphragm is supplied by the phrenic nerve.
   This pneumotaxic centre decreases the strength of signals (in the form of action potentials) in the phrenic nerve. Thus, the diaphragm contracts to a lesser extent, meaning that it relaxes and thus mediates expiration. Thus, you're question is answered. :)
   The sections are taken at the levels of facial colliculus and trigeminal nerve (upper pons). I am really sorry about the short forms! Here are their full forms though -
ICP=Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle
MCP=Middle Cerebellar Peduncle
LST=Lateral Spino Thalamic
Roman numerals=number of the cranial nerve
SON=Superior Olivary Nucleus
LL=Lateral Lemniscus
SSN=Superior Sensory Nucleus
MLB=Medial Longitudinal Bundle
TS=Tecto Spinal
RS=Reticulo Spinal
SCP=Superior Cerebellar Peduncle
MTSL ( mnemonic  because it looks like MTNL)
   =Medial, Trigeminal, Spinal and Lateral lemniscus
MS=superior sensory nucleus of trigeminal nerve
M=Mesencephalic nucleus of trigeminal nerve
TzBody=Trapezoid Body

  

T.S. of medulla oblongata

   The medulla oblongata is the part of the brain that mainly deals with involuntary functions that are essential for life. It is the lowest part of the brain. It shows inner grey matter and outer white matter.
   The medulla contains many centres that control the viscera. These include the Respiratory Centre, Cardiac inhibitory Centre, Vasomotor Centre, etc.
   These centres are actually a collection of nuclei. For instance, the Respiratory Centre includes the NTS (Nucleus Tractus Solitarius), Nucleus Ambiguous, etc. The Cardiac Inhibitory Centre (CIC) includes the dorsal nucleus of vagus.
   Although we can point out the nuclei that belong to a particular centre, the functions of the centre per se is not the only work of each nucleus. The nuclei work together in a Co ordinated manner to maintain homeostasis.
   For example, the NTS is said to belong to the Respiratory Centre to cause inspiration on simulation. However, that is not it's only function. When the blood pressure falls down, the nucleus tractus solitarius is involved in the baroreceptor reflex. The taste inputs are also sent to the NTS via the 3 nerves of taste - facial(VII), glossopharangeal(IX) and vagus(X) nerves.
   Another example is that the CIC also functions to supply nerves to other viscera of the body. 3 sections of the medulla oblongata have been taken - 1 at sensory decussation level, 2nd at the motor(pyramidal) decussation level and 3rd at the level of the olives(Floor of 4th  ventricle).
   The labelling includes many short forms to fit in everything. I am really sorry for the short forms. But here are the full forms -
ST=SpinoTectal
DSC=Dorsal Spino Cerebellar
VSC=Ventral Spino Cerebellar
LST=Lateral Spino Thalamic
AST=Anterior Spino Thalamic
S-Olivary=Spino Olivary
RS=Rubro Spinal
VS=Vestibulo Spinal
TS=Tecto Spinal
OS=Olivio Spinal
G=nucleus gracilis
C=nucleus cuneatus
Crosshatched lines= Reticular Formation
ICP=Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle
P=pyramid
V. Coch. N.= VestibuloCochlear(VIII) Nerve
A=nucleus ambiguous
Roman numerals=number of the cranial nerve
MLB=Medial Longitudinal Bundle
TS=TectoSpinal
IVN=Inferior Vestibular Nucleus
MO=Medial Olivary
DO=Dorsal Olivary
D. Coch. N=Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

Urogenital system development

The urogenital system includes the kidney, cloaca, uterus, rectum, anal canal, derivatives of the  mesonephric and paramesonephric ducts, etc. The  ureteric bud penetrates the metanephric mesoderm to connect the kidney with the ureter. There are also many anomalies that can happen due to faulty development of the urogenital system. This is my last post on embryology models because I don't have pictures of any more embryology models. Hope you had fun reading through. :)

Anomalies of uterus

The uterus is formed by fusion of the paramesonephric ducts. Any anomaly in such fusion or of paramesonephric duct formation leads to uterine anomalies.

Development of pancreas

The pancreas (pan=all ; creas=flesh) develops from the ventral and dorsal pancreatic buds. The ventral pancreatic bud appears on the 30th day. It shifts from the right to the left side towards the dorsal pancreatic bud in the sixth week. The buds then fuse as shown in the model.

Development of stomach

The rotation of gut is involved in stomach development. Due to this rotation many important relations are formed between organs. It also helps fit all the abdominal contents well into it. The stomach is the part of the gastrointestinal tract between the esophagus and the small intestine.

Aortic arch anomalies

The aortic arches are formed in such a manner that each arch connects the aortic sac to the dorsal aorta. The first arch artery forms the maxillary artery. The second arch artery forms the stapedial artery for some part of fetal life after which it contributes to a part of external carotid artery. The arteries that remain are shown in red while the ones that disappear are shown in white.

Fetal circulation

The fetus doesn't breathe or eat anything in utero. It, however, can drink the amniotic fluid around it. It receives it's nutrition, oxygen requirement and waste  excretion via maternal blood. Things enter the fetus via the umbilical veins and exit via the umbilical arteries. Thus, unlike other arteries and veins, the umbilical veins carry oxygenated blood while the umbilical arteries carry  deoxygenated blood. Such contrast is also seen in the pulmonary artery and vein. Another interesting thing that caught my mind was that how does a fetus use the bladder or is it unused...on searching online, I found out that it is used to release water (not urine) into the surroundings and lack of such function can lead to hydramnios.

Formation of inter-atrial septum

The inter atrial septum is patent during fetal life and closes after birth when the baby begins to breathe. It is formed as shown in the model. Atrial septal defects (ASDs) occur when the inter atrial septum is not completely closed after birth which needs urgent attention. The 2 types of myocardium found in the ventricle are also shown - compact myocardium and trabeculated myocardium.

Development of face

The face is formed by the fusion of the frontonasal process, the maxillary process and the mandibular process. Defects lead to formation of a proboscis, or even cleft lip and many other such defects.

Pharyngeal arches and pouches

The pharyngeal arches and pouches give rise to some upper body structures. They are very important from development point of view. Please study this section thoroughly from your textbook and if you have any doubt, feel free to write it in comments.

Formation of cardiac loop

The folding of the heart tube to firm the cardiac loop starts on day 22 and ends on day 28. The heart tune first lengthens. If this lengthening fails to occur then anomalies like DORV (Double Origin Right Ventricle where both aorta and pulmonary artery arise from the right ventricle), tetralogy of Fallot, etc. occur. This loop formation occurs inside the pericardial cavity. Another anomaly of abnormal cardiac looping is dextrocardia.

Development of interventricular septum

The interventricular septum is made up of 2 parts - a membranous part and a muscular part. The membranous part is formed due to the fusion of bulbar ridges and proliferation of fused  endocardial cushions as shown. Defects in such fusion lead to "VSDs" (ventricular septal defects)
Which can lead to cyanosis and ultimately death of not treated in a timely manner. The larger the defect, the louder is the murmur heard on auscultation.

Development of Rhombencephalon

The  brain is divided into 3 parts-Prosencephalon (forebrain), Mesencephalon(midbrain) and Rhombencephalon(hindbrain). The Rhombencephalon is divided into Metencepalon and Myelencephalon. The  metencephalon includes the pons(and cerebellum but the cerebellum has a different way of development which is not shown) while myelencephalon is the medulla oblongata. The parts labelled as numbers are as follows:
1. Somatic afferent
2. Special afferent
3. General visceral  afferent
4. General visceral efferent
5. Special visceral efferent
6. Somatic efferent

Development of veins

The model on development of veins was real fun and it involved real presence of mind to say which vein develops from which primitive embryonic veins. This was a really scoring model. Please read your embryology textbooks for more information as it is well understood comparing the text with these models and then, looking at the model, saying which vein develops from which precursors. This also helps with MCQs on development of veins. Of all the embryology models, I personally found this model the most interesting. I hope that you all find this of great help! I had made it on my S-Note with great patience and care.

Other tissues

This includes the remaining slides that can't fit into the remaining categories. The slides have certain characteristic features that help distinguish them from other slides at a first glance, of they were seen before. This is my last post on histology slides. I don't have any more pictures. I hope you found my posts very useful.

3 layered tubular structures

The Wall is said to be 3 layered if the layer named as muscularis mucosae is absent. This includes structures such as arteries, veins, gall bladder, fallopian tubes, uterus, ureter, urinary bladder, trachea, bronchi, vas deferens,  epididymis and seminal vesicle. Looking at the slide, it becomes very easy to identify which slide is of what.