20 Time Update #2: Starting the Biggest Obstacle

Throughout these past two weeks, I have made some progress, but these two weeks have passed more quickly than I expected. Similar to my last progress report, I still feel like I could have made more progress than I did. Then again, with only about 40 minutes a week to work on 20 Time, it is difficult to make significant progress.
I have now about finalized my story, and I have successfully cut down and gotten rid of all the unnecessary details in order to keep the length of the story reasonable. The main cause of depression for the main character in my story is being LGBT in a conservative community and family, which causes lots of conflict. Through researching the experiences of LGBT teenagers in conservative communities, I have become more aware of other communities in the US and around the world, and I have especially become more appreciative of the community that I live in. Saratoga is an area with mostly progressive people, considering how close we are to San Francisco, which is a landmark for LGBT activists. After reading the experiences of LGBT teenagers growing up in conservative areas like Southern America and Asia, I now realize how lucky I am to live in an area where there are many resources for LGBT people. Although I am not LGBT myself, I have a few friends that are, and I am happy that they can be open with themselves here.
For the next two weeks, I plan to actually begin my drawing book by making basic sketches and deciding which parts of my stories will be on which pages, because even though I have reduced the length of my storyline, I could still make the actual storybook longer. I feel like starting making the physical drawing book is the hardest step for me, hence the title "Starting the Biggest Obstacle," because I tend to be quite lazy and tired early in the morning. Hopefully, by the next two week progress report, I will have some physical sketches and at least one page finished.

Unit 7 Reflection

In this unit, we learned about muscles and their function, structure, and how they contract in our body. First, we learned about directional terms of the body and joint movements of particular joints: flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, circumduction, rotation, pronation, supination, dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion, eversion, protraction, retraction, elevation, depression, and opposition. Some of these only apply to certain parts of the body. For instance, inversion and eversion only apply to your feet, and circumduction can only be used to refer to limbs of the body. Next, we learned about the general muscular system and its functions: movement of bones or fluids, maintaining posture and body position, stabilizing joints, and heat generation. There are also four properties of muscle tissue: excitability, contractibility, extensibility, and elasticity. Then, we learned about the smaller components of muscle tissue, starting from the different kinds of fascia. First, the endomysium is the fascia that surrounds each muscle fiber. Next, the perimysium is the fascia that separates the muscle fibers into bundles. Then, the epimysium is the fascia that surrounds the entire muscle.

Furthermore, there are also different ends of the muscle, origin and insertion, which are the immovable and movable end of the muscle, respectively. In addition, we learned about the process of muscle contraction, which starts from the sarcomeres, the section of a myofibril where protein fibers overlap and slide past each other when muscles contract or relax. When a muscle contracts, the myosin and actin filaments in the sarcomeres slide past each other, using ATP and calcium ions in the process. Also, the process is started by a nerve impulse. My classmates and I made a video of the muscle contraction process:

In our next lecture, we learned about the different muscles in the human body and their specific names. In the head, there is the masseter and the temporalis, which both elevate the mandible. The trapezius controls the scapula, and the latissimus dorsi, deltoid, and pectoralis major all control the arm movement. Next, the biceps brachii and triceps brachii flex and extend the elbow joint. In the abdomen, the rectus abdominus and external oblique flex and compress the abdomen. Then, the external and internal intercostals elevate and depress the ribs. The diaphragm controls the lungs and allows for breathing, and the gluteus maximus controls thigh movement. The hamstring group of muscles is the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendonosus, all three of which control thigh movement and contraction. Next, the quadriceps muscles are the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis/medius, and vastus lateralis, which control the thighs and knee joints. Then, the sartorius controls hip rotation and knee flexion, and the gracilis controls the thigh. The tensor fascia latae stabilizes the hip and the ilotibiial band stabilizes the knee laterally. Finally, the gastrocnemius, petroneus longus, and tibialis anterior all control the foot. My classmates and I identified the majority of these muscles in a chicken during a lab that you can see here (with photos): Chicken Dissection Lab

In our next lecture, we learned about muscle twitch and the three types of muscle fibers: slow twitch fibers, fast oxidative twitch fibers, and fast glycolytic twitch fibers. Every person has a different variety of these three fibers, depending on their level and type of exercise; exercise can even change the genetically-established variation of muscle fibers over a long period of time. There are also four types of muscle contraction: concentric, eccentric, isometric, and passive stretch. 

In our last lecture, we learned about performance enhancement substances, such as steroids and EPO.

Lance Armstrong took EPO.

 These substances are used to boost athletic performance, build muscle, aid in recovery, and lose body fat. All professional athletes are tested for these substances before major events due to their prevalence in the athlete community. Most of these PE-substances have serious risks that can even lead to death, so they should be taken appropriately. 

After this unit, I want to learn more about muscles atrophy, because I know that many young people do not exercise on a daily basis, including me. Is the process of muscle atrophy in young people the same as it is for seniors? My grandfather had trouble walking near the end of his life because he did not exercise regularly. 

Overall, this unit has been quite fulfilling and relatable, because we use our muscles everyday in every part of our lives. I think as a student I have become more well-rounded and supportive of my classmates, because for once I did not play the main role in a dissection. I am usually the main person dissecting because I thoroughly enjoy dissections and hands-on work. However, in this lab I simply took pictures and wrote notes and allowed my lab partners to take charge. This unit was quite fulfilling.

Performance Enhancement Advertisement: EPO

A performance-enhancing substance is a manufactured product that can be ingested orally, injected, or inhaled nasally to improve athletic performance, promote muscle growth, and induce weight loss (can be stimulant, herb, or compound).

Anabolic steroids increase muscle mass and aid in muscle recovery, but have many risks, such as liver damage, heart disease, and stunted growth, especially in teenagers. Caffeine is a stimulant that may cause dehydration. EPO is a kidney protein that may cause stroke or heart attack; it is commonly used by cyclists. Human growth hormone may cause joint pain and muscle weakness. Creatine makes muscles release short but intense bursts of energy and may cause dehydration and liver damage. A high protein diet may cause a build-up of toxic ketones in the blood. Strength training is weight/resistance training that does not really have many risks, other than overexercising and injury. Gene doping is using gene therapy to permanently insert performance-enhancing genes into one's DNA. Androstenedione is produced by hormonal glands, and has similar risks to steroids, such as heart disease and liver damage. Carboloading is an increase in the intake of carbohydrates prior to a major event to build up glycogen stores; this causes weight gain.
Something that concerns me about these performance-enhancing drugs is the prevalence of these drugs all over the world. However, despite this prevalence, there is very little education given at a young age to deter this activity. In our freshman year health classes, we learned about the drugs that are usually abused such as cocaine and marijuana, but we were never taught about the danger of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Before this lecture, the only thing I knew about steroids was that it caused a increase in muscle mass and other physical changes, but I did not think the risks were that serious due to the high number of people who use it.
Although there are many risky performance-enhancing substances that are dangerous, there are a few performance-enhancing methods that are completely safe when they are utilized appropriately. For instance, strength training is used by many athletes to increase muscle mass by using resistance in the form of weights. This exercise and increase muscle mass and strengthen bones as well; the only risk is injury from overexertion. Carboloading is also not that dangerous, as its only side effect is weight gain, which is logical from the increase of intake of carbohydrates at once; the body stores extra water and glycogen). Perhaps the safest performance-enhancing method of all is massage/ myofascial release, which is the stimulation of the reflex response of the nervous system to reduce muscle tension. As long as the masseuse does not press too hard on the body, there really are no risks for this method.
On the other hand, EPO, gene doping, anabolic steroids, and androstenedione are all dangerous performance-enhancing drugs when used inappropriately. EPO is a hormone naturally produced by the kidneys that increases myoglobin count, which allows more oxygen to reach the muscles. However, if taken inappropriately, EPO can cause heart disease, liver damage, or even death. Next, gene doping is dangerous because the technology for it is experimental. As a result, if something went wrong, it would be difficult to recover because of the lack of experience with this issue. Anabolic steroids are extremely dangerous because they cause an increase of muscle mass along with risks of death, heart disease, and other physical issues. Lastly, androstenedione is a naturally produced hormone that has similar risks as those for anabolic steroids.
A question that I have is whether constantly carboloading is bad for the body, and can have more severe side effects. I know of many athletes that I follow who do carboloading before weightlifting events and other major events.

Chicken Dissection Lab

In this lab, our lab group identified the major muscles on a whole chicken by using pins and labels. First, we cut through the chicken's breast area and identified the chest muscles: pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.

Pectoralis major: flexes, adducts, and rotates the arm medially

Pectoralis minor: elevates ribs and protracts scapula

After locating the chest muscles, our lab group located a few tendons at the bottom of the chest:

The tendons are the white, shiny tissue.

At the origin of the muscle, the muscle is immovable, and the insertion of the muscle is the movable end of the muscle. When a muscle contracts, the insertion is moved toward the origin. 

Next, flipped the chicken over and cut open its upper back to identify the muscles there: trapezius and latissimus dorsi. 

Trapezius: extends head and adducts, elevates, or depresses scapula

Latissimus Dorsi: extends and adducts scapula; broadest muscle of the back

There is a difference between the trapezius of a chicken and the trapezius of a human. In humans, the trapezius is split into two parts, each part having its own action. The part going up the neck shrugs elevates and depresses the scapula, and the part running across the back retracts the scapula. 

After dissecting the back of the chicken, we moved onto its wing, or upper arm to locate the deltoid, biceps brachii, and triceps humeralis. 

Deltoid: abducts, flexes, and extends arm

Biceps Brachii: flexes elbow joint

Triceps Humeralis: extends the arm 

The triceps humeralis does not exist in humans; this muscle would be the triceps brachii in humans instead, and is the muscle used in doing reverse curls. In order to see how the muscles in the arm worked together to create movement, we used our hands to flex and extend the elbow joint. Once we did this, we could see the muscles, specifically the deltoid, lengthening and we could also feel the tendon moving along with the muscle lengthening. 

Next, we dissected the forearm of the chicken to find the flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis. 

Brachioradialis: largest muscle on the superior side of the wing; pulls the hand back

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris: largest muscle on the posterior side of the wing; flexes the hand

Our lab group also tried flexing the wrist joint to see if the hand of the arm would move because we were lengthening and contracting the muscles of the forearm. Sure enough, the when we lengthened the flexor carpi ulnaris, the hand flicked upward. 

Next, we dissected the thigh of the chicken to find the sartorius, iliotibialis, biceps femoris, semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and quadriceps femoris.

Sartorius: flexes the thigh; runs down the front edge of the thigh

Iliotibialis: covers the whole lateral side of the thigh; extends the thigh and flexes the leg

The iliotibialis does not exist in humans; instead, there is the gluteus maximus and iliotibial tract in humans. Also, in birds, this muscle group covers the whole lateral side of the thigh, but in humans, it has three parts and runs from the dorsal and alteral sides of the pelvis to the lateral side of the knee. 

Biceps Femoris: flexes the leg; part of hamstring group

Semimembranosus: inferior and medial to biceps femoris; extends the thigh

Quadriceps Femoris: group of four muscles; flexes the thigh and extends the lower leg

Semitendinosus: anterior and medial to semimembranosus; extends the thigh

Lastly, we dissected the chicken's drumstick/calf to identity the gastrocnemius, peroneus longus, and tibialis anterior muscles.

Gastrocnemius: primary muscle of dorsal and medial sides of drumstick; extends the foot and flexes lower leg

Peroneus Longus: extends the foot

Tibialis Anterior: directly under peroneus longus; flexes the foot

20 Time: Update #1

2 Week Progress Report:

So far, I have made some progress, but not as much as I expected to have made, so I feel that I need to speed up the pace of my progress for the next few weeks. I have learned that it is quite difficult to create a story and format the book in a way that is not too depressing to read; if I make it too depressing, then people will be less likely to read it. Ironically, the problem at hand is depression. Although I make decent progress during class, I notice that I like putting off working on the actual book during 20 Time in class, and choose to add details to my story instead; I think the idea of getting up and actively working scares me. 

As a result, I have had a few setbacks. While working on my storyline, I noticed that I tend to put lots of details into the story to make it as realistic as possible. However, there is a limit to how long I can make my book due to both time constraints and the interest of readers, so there is no way that I will be able to fit all of my details into the book; I will have to cut down the content by quite a bit. I will most likely do this by only including major topics in the story, like the most common signs of depression and the most common risk factors. 

The next step in my process would be to actually start on the physical book, by first doing sketches of all my drawings and making the captions for each picture. After doing this, I will outline the pictures and color them to make them more interesting to view. 

While doing this project, I honestly have not learned that much information that is new to me, other than the statistics. Because Saratoga is such a hypercompetitive community, the entire community has had exposure to depression and other kinds of stress. At our school, we have had Speak Up For Change week every week, which spreads awareness and destigmatizes the whole topic. Hopefully I can learn more about this topic and help to deter it in the community.

What Happens When You Stretch: Reading

Title: What Happens When You Stretch
Author: ---
Publication: people.bath.ac.uk
Date: March 12, 2016

Relate and Review: The main subject of this reading is what happens to your muscles when you stretch, and the processes and anatomical structures involved with stretching. The stretching of a muscle fiber starts with the sarcomere, and is basically the elongation of the sarcomere. Then, the connective tissue around the muscle align themselves with the sarcomeres, which helps to rehabilitate scarred tissue back to health. Next, the nerve endings that relay all the information from the musculoskeletal system to the central nervous system are the proprioceptors, which detect any changes within the body; muscle spindles are the main proprioceptors of the body. Then, there is also a stretch reflex, which causes the muscles to contract when they are stretched. This function protects the muscle from injury, but the stretch reflex can be suppressed. The stretch reflex has a static and dynamic component, which both help to contract the muscle from the very beginning of the stretch. However, theres is also a lengthening reaction that occurs when muscles contract and the tension becomes too high. Lastly, the process of reciprocal inhibition is when an antagonist contracts as a reaction to an agonist contraction.

1. "This triggers the stretch reflex, which attempts to resist the change in muscle length by causing the stretched muscle to contract."
- I chose this quote because it surprised me that there is an entire stretch reflex in reaction to simple stretching. When I stretched, I never realized that my muscles were also contracting; it amazed me to think how complicated stretching actually was.

2. "When an agonist contracts, in order to cause the desired motion, it usually forces the antagonists to relax."
- I chose this quote because I have never physically realized this process. Whenever I flex a certain muscle, it feels like the entire area is being flexed and is tight. However, after reading this and flexing my bicep, I noticed that my tricep was not actually tight at all.

3. "There are actually two kinds of intrafusal muscle fibers: nuclear chain fibers, which are responsible for the static component; and nuclear bag fibers, which are responsible for the dynamic component."
- I chose this quote because it really demonstrates how complicated muscle fibers are; there are so many different types of muscle fibers, like the intrafusal muscle fibers. Then, there are also different types of intrafusal muscle fibers, the nuclear chain nuclear bag fibers.