Monday, February 28, 2005
*.* results *.*
I didn't get back any results today, because I didn't take the O-level Chinese paper last year...and I didn't go down to the hall to hear the full details of the results because I had to do work, but from my classroom (which is pretty far away), I could hear screams that were enough to bring the house down...haha...think they did well. Anyway, I titled this entry 'results'. Why? Because I've got back some results of my super-important tests, 2 of them, today. But before that, just want to congratulate joan, nicky and mark for their results. Oh, and Stephanie and Hongzhou on their As for the chinese paper. Well done :)
Okay, my turn for revelation. Should I? Aiya...whatever lah. I got A1 for all the papers I got back so far (Integrated Maths, Higher Chinese, Biology, Chemistry) And so, right here in public, I want to make a declaration. That is, I want to give God the glory for every result that came my way. I was sick, and tired too for every single test, but He helped me pull through each one, and gave me the wisdom in understanding the questions. So, if there be any human praise, give that praise to God. He deserves it more than we do...and He'll help us safe-keep it so that we will continue to be humble and not complacent :)
Anyway, I thought I'd also like to share with you a special something that I wrote for one of my physics assignments on magnetism. Those people who take physics, please be more lenient. I still don't know much. If I've made any mistakes, just tell me okay? Enjoy :) And don't become lame after reading it...
(Mr. Magnet strides onto stage with great pride and full of airs. He beams as he takes the microphone, and without any hints of prepared notes, starts in a booming voice)
Hail me! The GREATEST and definitely most divine one you could ever find in the entire universe! (Clear throat) Pardon me, I now present to you the most honourable man you could ever meet: ME! I am... Mr. Magnet! Ladies and gentlemen, please give me a round of applause.
(Applause).
Now, let me introduce to you...the wonders of...ME. I'm not a property agent, but my properties will definitely send you flying towards me with supreme admiration. Oh I'm so humble, but I just have to say this, lest all of you do it. I'm so attractive! (Clear throat again). Let's iron out the facts. It really isn't me who initiates everything, but iron and many other metals just can't help being attracted to me. Is it my figure? Probably not, I'd say. I come in an assortment of shapes and sizes, the slim and slender rods, the horse-shoe-shaped ones, the "holy" dough-nut shaped ones, and even square-headed ones, just to add to the variety. So what's so attractive about me? Maybe they can't help it!
The North Pole and South Pole are freezing, cold and desolate places you really don't want to be at. But oh! At my poles, that's where all the metals want to go. They're so attracted by my poles that if you look closely enough, you'd even see massive activity of pole-dancing there! But I'm picky. My motto is creme de la creme. I only go for the best. I will only reveal my charm to certain materials. You commoners will never be good enough for me, for I am Mr. Magnet, the Great One!
Some of you may ask how my relationship with other magnets is like. Well, let's get this straight. I'm definitely straight! My dipoles are arranged in a singular direction. Therefore, the south pole of another magnet would attract my north pole, the and north pole of another magnet would fly towards my south, like birds just before winter. You could say, the North Pole secretes hormones, which attract the south pole of another magnet. But when like poles come together, they know they should not be together. Hence, they do not fight for territory but go through a repulsive repulsion. You could never find them existing together harmoniously.
Well, enough about the skinny poles. Let's focus on...ME! You know what the great humans have found out about me? I'm not only suave and attractive, I'm even useful in so many areas! Can you believe it?! Where can you find a greater one than me? You don't believe me? Let me prove it. Think about this situation. You're all lost in the forest, weary and tired, with no clue where to go. You think all hope is lost and that you're doomed, but guess who shows up? My dear friend, the compass. He helps you to navigate your way out of the darkness and gloom, and all you can eventually cry is, "My hero!" You see, my applications encompass so many things, including the compass. Besides that, I help you shut your fridge, I am used in loudspeakers, electrical motors and even electrical generators.
Wow! I can't believe how brilliant I am, and yet I manage to stay humble. To end off this speech, I'd like to thank myself once again for being...ME! Without me, nothing would have been possible. And thank you, all my fans. I'll never forget your love for me.
(Walking off the stage, Mr. Magnet once again presses the 'play' button and the sounds of applause once again thunder through the entire room. The soft toys sitting in front of the stage remain in their original position, as Mr. Magnet picks them up one by one, saying, "You were a great audience.")
*Disclaimer: Greatest apologies for all the lameness and puns. Hope you had as much reading this, as I had in writing it
Me blogged @ | 3:38 PM
Saturday, February 26, 2005
*.* death be not proud *.*
Death be not proud, though some have called thee,
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure: then from thee much more must overflow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
-John Donne
For my overly concerned friends, no, I'm not thinking of commiting suicide or anything. Rest assured :)
Me blogged @ | 10:14 PM
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
*.* busy busy busy *.*
YAY! Maths and Higher Chinese down, lots more to go. Think I haven't updated in almost a week, well, that shows how busy I am :( Sometimes it's a bliss to have little things to do. Anyway, just took my HCL paper just now. I think, ok lah. Not bad, considering the only time I could start studying was...yesterday. Haha...no choice lah. Normally I study Chinese for quite a number of days, but I guess everything's been pretty overwhelming. Hope it turns out fine eventually. Actually, I knew about 11/15 of the tian2 xie3 han4 zi4, 15/15 of the tian2 xie3 ci2 yu3, 4/5 of the zao4 ju4, about 5/10 of the duan3 wen2 tian2 kong1, and practically nothing about the chang2 wen2 suo1 duan3...hahaha...I understood the passage, but the way I summarised it was simply terrible lah...so I shall just hope for the best. Oh ya...just got back my chem paper which I took...last Monday. Did quite okay lah :) Better than I expected... Quantum theory rocks! haha...
Okay, now to summarise what happened from thursday till now...
Thursday.
Whole dreary day of school...followed by choir (strenous practise)...then rushed to Raffle's Town Club before choir ended for rehearsal of the song item, Everything to me. Cheryl, Chermaine, Dorothea and June were already there...anyway, we practised a few times (that was the first time I played for the whole group (so you can imagine how unpolished my playing was :'( ) I tried. Eventually, we came to an agreement as to how the whole song should be played and sung exactly. We had a sound check on stage after Harry had set up everything. That night, the main person running the sound was Daniel, so he helped us adjust the volumes and all (By the way, I still don't know if I should just call them by name or must add 'uncle' in front. Aiyo!) And Teng Ngan ah, as usual, came around with his camera, and purposely aim at me as well. Natural reaction: take guitar and cover my face lor :) But he just had to add, "I'll see how you cover your face later during the real performance". Sigh....he'll never change. Looks like got to run away more. Anyhow, Harry let me help for PA that night too. Yay! I like the walkie-talkie...haha...but must do quite an amount of work too lah..I was hoping that the performance would be as late as possible, but in the end, the programme was pushed forward, so a relaxed me turned quite flustered..I ran down from the PA room upstairs, quickly put down everything on me and picked up my guitar. It was time. So drama...haha... The performance was pretty okay lah. Surprisingly, I didn't really have to think of the chords like previously, despite there being 5 key changes and dozens of chords. Maybe that's because I finally decided to let go and commit the performance to the Lord :) The whole even ended after 10, so was very tired. Had to sleep when I got home...
Friday.
School again...can't really remember any significant thing. After that was choir again. This time was even more xiong, because the next day was the workshop with the other choirs and then performance at night. Following a long practise, rushed back home to change (it was pouring in the west) and then took a bus 30 to church. Mistake. The bus took more than 1 and a half hours to get to the Kembangan station. By the time I reached there, I was already late and positively giddy. Then I half-ran, half walked to church for worship practice. Desmond was to lead, with Corrie at the piano, Paul with the bass, Chermaine with the drums and Nicky at the electric guitar. Anyway, Chermaine still had not arrived(she's in NJ and her lesson dragged on till 7, I think) and I found out that Paul wasn't coming. Oh well... practice ended at about 10...travelled back to the West, and yes, I was pretty zonked out again. I thought, "Oh no! Tomorrow cannot wake up for school". Guess what? I was really late (about 10 min) on saturday. Sigh...I hate being late...
Saturday.
I got out of bed feeling super sick and tired, literally, but yes, I had to go to the Hwa Chong Institution for choir workshop with HCJC, NJC, Anderson Sec, Ngee Ann, Sin Min, Fairfield, and of course, the special guests, the magnificent, wonderful, absolutely spectacular Hwa Chong Institution (High school section) choir themselves! haha...I heard they're supposed to hav about 23 members, but their commitment level isn't very good, so quite few turned up. Anyway, all the choirs had separate warm-ups, but like the previous workshop, it was hard because we couldn't go very far from the LT, so all the choirs had to "compete" to be able to concentrate as well as have themselves heard. Also, as nature goes, somehow guys seem to sound louder than girls, so being part of a girls' choir, it was quite hard lah, but no choice. Later, after about 15 minutes, we gathered back in the LT to perform for each other. Mind you, the accoustics there are, well, not fantastic. Any sound on stage that was not produced by shouting or isn't supported (sung with the diaphragm) couldn't be picked up from the audience, and so, by the end of the workshop, the conductors told us that all of the choirs hd only a silver sound. It wasn't good enough......we're not supposed to be conquered by the location, but instead, overcome the accoustics and sound good everywhere, so I guess, there's still a lot to learn as a chorustor. The workshop ended in the afternoon, so I went home, bathed, ate and did other stuff, before quickly setting off again, this time to Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) in preparation for the concert. We were guest performing for the NTU choir that night. And it might be the last time I'm performing there, especially in a choir. Kind of sad...... Anyway, we had quite a rough rehearsal...typical...haha. This not good, that not good enough, and there were supposed to VIPs from here and there. So ma fan... but never mind. Kind of used to it:) After rehearsal, we were all made to sleep in the concert hall for half an hour (preserve voice, conserve energy to smile a lot later when singing, the usual...). Then we woke up to have dinner (I couln't eat much...probably bloated by water) and so while everyone was eating, I went back up to the one and only changing room that all 70+ of us shared and changed before anyone else changed. Original plan was to have individual sections changing together. I'd rather eat less and change by myself...haha... Finally, after everyone had changed, we had to line up in our concert position beside the hall, and we stayed there for about 45 minutes. It so happened that the sole of my shoe came off, so I actually planned to glide onto stage instead of walking properly, but oh well, my friend got some duct tape from somewhere, so we stuck the shoe together in the end. Finally, it was time to go up to perform. We sang our SYF pieces for this year and for the first time, my section nailed all the "yoruwa okasan" for the jap song. Yay! If you think it's easy, it's not lah. Because the first note that we sing comes in many bars after the altoes and sop 2s come in, and all the their notes and ours are in different octaves. Very weird one...Our Como Tu or "Just like you", the 16 part spannish love song, wasn't too bad either :) Hopefully, we'll get gold. Wait. We're suppposed to...haha...otherwise we're in trouble. We've got gold 6 times (12 years) already. If we break this, we're dead lah. After the performance, I left earlier than the rest because I was pretty much completely exhausted from everything. I still had quite a lot of make-up on, so I just went home (by train and bus) in my gown and everything. It's quite funny when people give you weird looks, but I didn't bother to care anymore. Too tired. That night, after bathing, it was back to my bed :)
Sunday.
Church! Yay! We got there a little earlier this week, so no one had to cover for me for PA first. For people who don't know, I'm doing songbook for 2nd service this month (after training for one month to do the sound board. Anyway, I'm just taking over Emerald, cos she's got kids to take care of in KSS). Anyway, after 2nd service, went up for prayer meeting with the rest of worship committee, before going down to the chapel to set up stuff for Senior Sunday School (SSS). Worship was pretty good:) Beautiful feeling when everyone sings and worships...later, Jason (uncle?) told us the timings of the music training course. Oh ya...Joel and Andy, I will be furthering guitar studies (haha...sounds so chim, but I actually mean this course lah) Zai ci, wo xiang gan xie wo shi fen wei da de shi fu, lin yu wen joel, zai liang nian qian shi fen nai xin de jiao dao wo, bang wo xue hao tan ji ta and ji ben gong. Jie fu, yi liang andy xian sheng, ye jiao le wo xu duo. Xie xie ni men! Joel, don't need translation right? Anyway, I'll be starting training this sunday...After church, I went home, because Monday and today got Maths and HCl test respectively, and I couldn't study at all last week. I forgot what I did lah, but I had intensive study of maths from 9pm to 1.30am on monday, then I slept and woke up at 5am again to study. Haha...really lost a lot of energy...
Monday.
Maths test was last period, so I had to keep awake till then. I guess the day went past like a blur till the last period. Unfortunately, I couldn't do the paper...sigh....super difficult. I mean, that's expected of dear Mrs Chua, but I guess I really couldn't conquer the questions. Sigh...another paper I might fail. After school, I had a quick lunch then came back to the classroom to prepare for HCL. I had intensive studying till about 6.20 before I finally left school upon the command of Timothy Han. Sigh...the one who calls me a shrink, soft toy and kojipun. Monday night...I needed to relax a little, so I watched tv (chinese shows) and studied at the same time. After 10, back to studying. After I had finished preparing 80%, I guess I gave up and went to sleep...
Today.
Woke up at 6, got ready in <10min, and went back to studying...gee, so fun. Finally got to school 89% ready. Brushed up a little before school, then faced the paper almost as soon as school started. Sigh...we'll see how it goes. Right now, even though I'm still typing (I've been typing throughout the day) , I have lots of things to do...my SIAs are killing me. Never mind... ok have to go.
God bless and take care. SMS me if you want to disturb anyone. After all...I'm a soft toy.
Me blogged @ | 12:37 PM
Thursday, February 17, 2005
*.* Artsy day *.*
Whee! Bio test is over :) How was it? Dunno leh...haha...aiya! I don't care about marks lah! Because it's been replaced with something; I enjoyed doing the test! haha...rolled eyes are welcome. But it's true, strangely enough... I love bio! And maths! And probably chem too! See, I'm a super Science person. In fact, if I can, these are the subjects I'm taking in Hwa Chong next year, along with GP and econs lah.
So...today's a different day for me. Wanted to study for next week's Maths and Chinese test, but I guess I won't. Today's an artsy day, dedicated to music! Have to practise later for guitar; performance at Raffles Town Club tomorrow evening for the Alpha introduction dinner. Why? Because Cheryl, Chermaine June and Dorothea are singing Everything to Me by Avalon...and I have to play because of Andy and Joel's fault. God-willing jie fu has to be in Australia at this time and my very own shi fu doesn't want to play for some obscure reason:( I'm super unconfident and worried, because my standard is still....somewhere down there lah, but...must remember it's a service to the Lord, so I shall jump for joy. Yipee!!!! haha...(please roll your eyes again). I'll do my best. Hopefully I don't make more than 10 mistakes. That would be very good already (Hey! there are so many key changes, so it's justified.) Anyway, yes, today must practise. Probably will dedicate the night to do that.
What I have to do as well is choreograph some dance that we're supposed to perform in 2 weeks time. For those who really know me, you'd fully understand that I'm not dancing material, and well, my other 2 group mates, have no dancing background too. So you might be able to sympathise with people like us in this sort of plight. Sigh... I'm doing the initial planning of positions, choreography and travelling stuff, but it's hard! Ah! Hopefully my friends won't find it so difficult when they carry on from here. They picked S.H.E's tong4 kuai4 (very fast pain, I mean, very happy..haha) for our dance. Aiyo...complex song, but must (clear throat) respect their decision :) So it's an afternoon of choreography and a night of practising.
ARTSY DAY! Pretty cool, actually...haha...
Well, hope all of you have a great day, no matter how it's like:) God bless and take care!
Me blogged @ | 8:30 AM
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
*.* Bio test *.*
Whee! Guess what?
I shall now share with you very vital information....on what's to be tested for bio tomorrow! haha... for those who hate bio, then you don't have to read. But really, give it a shot.It's all about us and the human body! :)
Presenting...the dummie's guide to the human body!
Written by: a fellow dummy :P
Topic #1: Excretion
First to clear up a few misconceptions...Excretion is the process by which metabolic(involves reactions in body) waste products and toxic materials are removed from the body. Therefore, the removal of faeces is NOT, and I repeat, is not part of excretion, like many people believe.
If you're bored already, forget about going on...go back to sleep :)
Let's have a few examples on the metabolic activities in our bodies then.
Activity #1: Tissue respiration in our body cells. After we've eaten our delicious food, our body breaks down those large chunks of carbohydrates into simpler substances like glucose. This is then absorbed into our bloodstream. So why do we need glucose? Well, we need energy right? Energy comes easiest from glucose, compared to protein and fat. So what actually happens? Well, the glucose goes through oxidation and when that happens, energy is produced! Along with carbon dioxide and heat, of course. With this energy, we can carry on with many wonderful activities :)
Activity #2: Amino acid deamination: What's that? Actually, it's a chemical process whereby amino acids from proteins are broken down (when there's excess in our body. It's acidic, so we don't want too much). Anyway, they get broken down into urea and pyruvic acid. The urea is got rid of at the kidney, and comes out of our body as part of urine. For the pyruvic acid, however, again, this is where energy can come from. Yay!
Activity #3: Formation of new protoplasm from amino acids. From the amino acids formed after translation and transcription of DNA, a chain of proteins is formed, and all these connected actually form our wonderful protoplasm of our cells :)
Activity #4: Conversion of glucose to glycogen. For what? Well, it's not good for our body to contain too high a concentration of glucose, so the pancreas actually secretes more of a hormone called insulin, which in turn stimulates the cells in the liver and muscles to convert the excess into glycogen, which can be stored until needed. When there is a shartage of glucose, the reverse happens with the aid of the hormone, glucagon.
All these are either catabolic(breaking down of complex substances into simpler ones) or anabolic(forming complex substances from simpler ones) activities. Catabolic activities+anabolic activities= METABOLISM!
In humans, these are the main unwanted excretory products:
1. Carbon dioxide: got rid of by the lungs as a gas in expired air(breate out...)
2.Nitrogenous wastes like urea(from the deamination of amino acids), creatinine and uric acid(from breakdown of protein). The main organ that helps remove these substances is the kidney. These substances come out of our body as part of urine.
3. Excess water: Don't we need water? Isn't it the more the better? Well, of course we need water, but if there is too high a concentration, our cells will really burst! Yes, so we must get rid of excess water. How? 3 ways. a)by our kidneys as a main constituent of urine b)by our skin in the form of perspiration c)through our lungs as water vapour in expired air
To get rid of all these harmful metabolic wastes, we need an excretory system!
main members: kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, lungs, skin
function: to transport and remove excretory products
For this chapter, however, we would like to focus on the urinary system. The hero of this system, is of course, the kidneys. Don't look down on these beany babies, I mean, bean-shaped things. They help remove unwanted substances from the blood, retain the essential elements(maintain pH and blood composition), and can control the amount of water in the body. This results in the production of urine consisting of wastes like excess water and urea, and urine can also contain variable amounts of water, depending on how much excess there is in the body. Too much water: cells burst. Too little: cells become crenated and shrunken. Eventually die. As an osmoregulator, the kidneys regulate salt and water balance of the body fluid by a negative feedback system.
Let's get to know the kidneys a little better. They're embedded in a mass of fat(prevent shock and damage to kidneys which could result in kidney failure) in the abdominal cavity and are attached to the dorsal wall. There is a special concave surface on each kidney, to which the renal artery, vein and nerves are attached to. If I'm not wrong, the ureter's conected there too, to transport the waste products via the ureter to the urinary bladder.The kidney has a capsule(the outermost layer), followed by a cortex and theh medulla. Beneath that lies 12-16 conical structures that we call pyramids, and last of all, the enlarged portion of the ureter, the renal pelvis. Within each kidney, there are about a million nephrons (kidney tubules). These are where the substances move in and out of the bloodstream. FYO, each tubule is 5 cm long when stretched out to full length.
This is how the magic works:
The blood travels into the kidney, carrying all sorts of rubbish along with the good stuff (water, red blood cells, whilte blood cells, dissolved mineral salts, protein molecules like globulin and albumin). "That's it!" it declares. "It's time to unload my weight". The blood travels along the renal artery and then enters a renal capsule vis the afferent arteriole. Ultrafiltraion takes place in the glomerulus, where blood rushes through at very high pressure(125 cubic cm per min). Everything that is soluble flows through as glomerulate filtrate, leaving only rbc, wbc, big proteins and some fluid platelets. As we can see, things pass through the glomerulus according to their size, not their usefulness. The filtrate probably contains precious substances like glucose that we cannot afford to lose in our urine.
Reabsorption to the rescue! As the filtrate steadily flows downwards, other mechanisms kick into action. The super egoistical proximal convoluted tubule tries to steal as much greenlight, i mean, limelight, as possible. At this place, glucose, amino acids, vitamins, hormones, sodium ions, soluble minerals, and essential water are absorbed back into the veins. Glucose is reabsorbed by active transport, while the rest get absorbed mainly through diffusion. As the smart guy, the proximal convoluted tubule can control the amounts of each substance absorbed, and therefore can control the amount of water that goes back into the blood. In us humans, about 85% of water is reabsorbed in the proximal convoluted tubule. However, this is not enough. There are 2 other very important mechanisms that fine-tune the water absorption: The loop of Henle and distal convoluted tubule. The loop of Henle(obviously discovered by this guy called Henle) provides extra length for all glucose, some salts and water to be reabsorbed. But that's not over. Depending on the state of the person, the distal convoluted tubule will control the permeability of the tube to allow more or less water to be absorbed. Pretty cool, I must say :) However, tragicly, some of the unwanted substances will also go back into the bloodstream because of passive diffusion. When the concentration of these substances is lower in the bloodstream than in the tubules, they will also diffuse across into the renal vein. Therefore, it's impossible to have 0% of urea in our body, and that's why, blood has to constantly be pumped into the kidneys to be "cleaned".
"Phew! Finally a load off my mind."
Besides all these reabsorption stuff, kidneys are also great osmoregulators (control amount of water in our body). Our water potential in the blood has to be kept constant, and this water potential depends on the amount of water and salts in the blood. the water content can be controlled by a hormone called anti-diuretic hormone, or ADH. ADH is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is the "master" gland found in our brain. When there is too little body in our body, the osmotic pressure increases, and this is detected by the hypothalamus(regulates thirst, temp, etc) in our brain. When this happens, the pituitary gland secretes more ADH, which in turn stimulates the kidney to absorb more water. The distal convoluted tubule will then increase its permeability and allow more water to be reabsorbed. The water potential in the body goes back to normal again.
What is urine?
Presenting...the culprits who could have harmed us, but were got rid of in time... 1) excess water 2) mineral salts 3) nitrogenous waste products (urea, uric acid, creatinine). They are allowed to pass through the nephron and out through the collecting tubule into the renal pelvis as urine. The urine then flows through the ureter and into the urinary bladder and is stored there. When the bladder is about half full, a nerve signal is sent to the brain to say, "please be smart and go to the toilet now. You are ready for discharge :)". Anyway, when you reach the toilet bowl, the brain sends a message to the shincter muscle just below the urinary bladder, and the muscle relaxes, allowing the hole to become bigger and the urine to flow through. The urine flows through the short urethra before finally facing daylight. Yay! It's out!
Attention all health conscious people! Some interesting facts about our urine:
1) Protein-ruch diet results in a higher concentration of urea, because there will be more excess proteins digested, and the amino acids will be deaminated to form more urea
2) Foods rich in water or have a larger liquid intake will result in a greater volume of urine. Duh! haha... because there will be more excess water in the body, and we don't want our cells to burst...not me, anyway.
3) Salty food can result in excess salts being excreted. See lah, eat too much. Waste salt ah!
(Clear throat) The next section is very serious, and probably quite a sensitive issue too. Please be nice.
KIDNEY FAILURE. It could either be genetic, or could also be caused when the kidney is damaged through an infection or accident (that's why the layer of fat is there to help as much as possible). Because of the damage, the kidney is unable to effectively remove harmful substances. Its job as an osmoregulator is also compromised. Because of this, kidney patients may look very yellow(a lot of toxins not removed), swollen(too mushc water in body), and be very weak. They need help.
This is where dialysis comes in. First, let's touch on haemodialysis. What happens is: blood is drawn fron an artery in the arm. This blood is allowed to flow through tubes in the dialysis machine. These tubes are highly coiled in order to increase the surface area to volume ratio to increase efficiency (patients endure the pain for a shorter time, hopefully). The partially-permeable tubes contain bathing fluid that contain essential salts for the body. This sets up a diffusion gradient for the salts to diffuse into the blood and for the waste products to diffuse into the bathing fluid. However, this is not all. The blood flowing through also moves in the opposite direction of the bathing fluid to maintain the diffusion gradient(constant) for effective diffusion. Osmoregulation also inevitably takes place. The filtered blood then returns into the vein.
Everything good comes with a price. Life can be restricted as dialysis takes up several hours each week. It is a tedious and painful routine :'( Patients going through dialysis may also suffer from medical problems such as anemia and infections. Only living kidneys secrete a hormone Erythropoietin that stimulates the formation of red blood cells in the bone marrow. The gland that produces this hormone is on top of the kidney, so when there's kidney failure, erythropoietin cannot be made. Hence, the patient has to endure even more pain by being injected with the hormone during dialysis too. We fortunate people enjoy such lovely food, but kidney patients really have to watch their diet, often against their wishes. They can onlt take 500ml of water each day (otherwise they'll be bloated or swollen), they can only have 30-40g of protein each day(otherwise too much urea produced) and they cannot take potassium rich foods like bananas, instant coffee and chocolate(excess salts in body, take a very long time to remove salts)
Is there a solution? Many look to getting a kidney transplant. Only one kidney is required, and this kidney(along with the donated renal artery, vein and ureter) is added near the bladder while the failed ones are left alone. Life donors are usually relatives, because this lowers the possibility of a tissue rejection from the host. If the kidney comes from a person who just died, kidneys must be removed within an hour of death, and used within 12 hours of removal.
Yes, yes, we know. This comes with a price too. Yup, there are problems. The patient may reject the transplanted kidney, and when that happens, it's just too bad :( Also, in order to decrease the possibility of rejection of the new kidneys, the patients are given drugs to supress rejection. However, because the activity of the immune system is compromised, the patient is more prone to infection and other illnesses because the body becomes weaker. Lastly, there are also very few donors. Many people are not willing to donate their kidneys, and so it is very difficult to find a kidney for transplant.
Whew! Finally finished Excretion! Decided not to torture anyone anymore (especially those who actually read to the bottom of this entry). I'll be off to study homeostasis, the endocrine system(hormones and stuff), as well as the nervous system (on neurons and all). Bye!
God bless you and have a nice day :)
Me blogged @ | 2:11 PM
Monday, February 14, 2005
*.* Valentine's Day 14 Feb *.*
Somehow it's hard to forget,
the first time we met,
the joy and good times we shared,
the day I found out how much I cared,
About you.
The arrow of heartbreak,
Struck me, shook me awake,
You took off, left me all forlorn,
My fragile heart, shattered and torn,
Because of you.
Looking back at it,
I seem to remember every single bit,
every detail, moment with you.
But I'll treasure all memories, even if few,
Of you.
It's Valentine's Day! Whether you're with someone or not, it doesn't matter:) The greatest love can never come from him/her anyway. Fix your eyes on what's above. Follow the wonderful tips on love (previous entry) and trust that God will provide The One when the time is right. And...to end this off, what better way than to go straight to the Bible on the chapter on love? haha...
1 Corinthians 13
And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily-angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
God bless all of you and have a wonderful Valentine's Day :)
Me blogged @ | 4:36 PM
Sunday, February 13, 2005
*.* valentine's day *.*
.
Today was one of the best days I've had in a long time:) Not that there was anything so spectacular about it, but I haven't felt so much peace in a long time...
Over the past two weeks, I've been feeling pretty sick, as well as burned out from school. Every day just seemed to pass in a blur. During Chinese New Year, well, it was nice visiting my relatives and all, but even with all the bright red going around, I was still not in the best of moods...until friday... that was the first worship prac out of the two. My voice was croaking away, and I hadn't prepared what exactly to say, but I went for the practise after a day of staying at home to rest and all. The thing was, during the practise, I still sounded terrible, I couldn't believe how off-key I was 1/3 the time, and I was still feeling sick, but it was different from the days before. Somehow, I still had the great assurance that God wasn't looking at how good I sounded or how chim whatever I said was; He was looking into my heart to see if I was truly meaning everything that I said and sang. And that's all that matters to Him.
Friday was the 2nd time I carried out a new style of doing the worship prac. After everyone has tuned their instruments and warmed up, we came together, sat in the center, and had our own time of worship first. The first time I tried it, we sang a song together and then broke up into small groups to pray for different things, but for this time, I let them hear a track from the avalon album, Renew me. Somehow, things like that helped to bring our focus to God instead of purely creating music. The practice later on went really well; we actually managed to run through the whole list twice...and my horrible voice was no longer the center of my attention:)
On Saturday, the practice was really great too and I felt the ultimate source of comfort and peace fill me for the first time in a long while. Only because I had finally decided to let go and surrender to God and not do things my way any longer.
Today, I wouldn't say the worship was good or bad, but I felt it was really powerful. A whole room of youths coming together to truly worship God. There was no place for the devil at all. And if you were there, whatever I said didn't come from a planned script, like it usually does. Planning what to say is good, but at that moment, when leading a whole congregation, the message will be a lot more powerful if the leader simply be led by the Spirit. It's a feeling I can't experience anywhere else...be led by the Holy Spirit:)
Later on, for the Valentine's Day programme, the guys and girls were split up for the different talks. Obviously, I attended the guy, I mean, girl one....haha...Anyway, I know there are reasons why they didn't want everyone in the same room, but I'm going to leak out the main points of the talk, because I think it applies to everyone :)
Presenting...
the 7 tips on love and dating:
tip#1:Do not be ashamed or fret over your loneliness.
Trust the God who loves you. God will provide The One for you. Really.
tip #2: Do not hunt for The One. Be the One.
tip #3: Don't be unequally yoked. Prefer a partner in ministry.
tip #4: Do not be "on call". Live life to the full.
tip #5: Do not rush, Go slow, really, really slow.
tip #6: Do not engage in sexual immorality. Stay pure at all costs.
<1>
tip #7: Do not ignore red flags. Deal with them swiftly, responsibly, and prayerfully.
If these signs do show, you know you should break up with that person. BUT, no matter who that person is or what that person has done, no one deserves to be dumped. Have a good talk and apologise that the relationship is not working out. According to the speaker, breaking up is really, really tough. It will be painful, but it has to be done.
Remember: God wants you to have the best, do not settle for second best:)
God bless you! Tomorrow got test. Gotta go. Bye! Me blogged @ | 6:27 PM
Saturday, February 12, 2005
*.* questioning *.*
.
timeless...
what is timeless?
Nothing on this earth...
Me blogged @ | 11:12 PM
Monday, February 07, 2005
*.* birthday *.*
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Hello...sorry I've not been updating for quite a while. Anyway, here's a little account on stephanie's surprise birthday party that took place last saturday:
At 8+ in the morning, I crawled out of bed, feeling quite drowsy and coughing like a dunno what...haha...anyway, I had to be on time for 'an event to remember': Steph's surprise birthday party!
Upon reaching Pasir Ris MRT station where we were supposed to meet, I felt weird. I don't belong there...haha...and as usual, practically everyone was late AGAIN...sigh...when will they ever learn? We decided not to wait for Nicky anymore because he was really late...so we went into White Sands for a while and bought a few stuff from the supermarket. By the way, if any of you live near that area and decide to go there, be sure to visit the supermarket before they take down the CNY decorations...haha...you'll see why...
Anyway, after Nicky finally arrived, we walked to steph's house and entered her house to set up everything. Auntie Seow Geok was so nice in being in cahoots with us (and she's a great cook :P). Well, the guys started with doing the balloons (cos they're supposed to be the ones with more breath? I dunno...) Sad to say, the way they did it was absolutely...unbelievable. On an average, for every 3 balloons they blew, they burst 2...hahahaha... Jocelyn focused on stringing the balloons together, Joan was making her card and wrapping the present, and for me, I made the banner...think I've never coloured so much in years...interesting experience..haha...even had to borrow the coloured pencils from her little brother:) thank you zechary!
After hours of painstaking preperation, the moment for execution had finally arrived. Joan, Jocelyn and I waited at the door with balloons and camera in hand. Jonathan, Nicky, Mark and Tim waited behind the kitchen counter with the banner. When she finally came, her mother opened the door and we sent a piercing scream through her head, "Surprise! Happy birthday!" Then came another scream. Hers. hahaha....besides that, we threw balloons into her face and the 3 of them forced me to take photo :( aiyo...then it was time for the second surprise. We had already made it seem as though we were the only guests at the house...heh heh heh...suddenly, the guys popped out of the counter (wrong time, by the way..haha) and did their rendition of "Happy Birthday". Yes, for once, they were pretty creative. For every "happy birthday", they took one syllable each, and the "to you" was sung in pairs. Though pretty out of tune, that made her scream again..haha..so it was worth it:)
We basically pigged out that afternoon, with Tim Han coming later on to bring even more food...so much for all the diets they were on...haha...sigh...I really love this Bunch of people:P Really thank God for them...
Me blogged @ | 5:31 PM
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
.
Just to lighten up the mood, despite it still being a depressing day...
I went to take passport-sized photos because must hand in some funny application form for international chinese competition, and they are so ma fan one...need 3 photos. So anyway, I think most of you know by now, that I really shun cameras a lot, not just Jonathan's, Mark's or Teng Ngan's, but now even in school...apparently, my classmates want to put pics of everyone on the noticeboard but how can I not run when they start aiming the camera at me? Yep, so that gives you the background...and that's why, today when had to go...aiyo...like so terrible ah! When I got there, and I saw the lighting and stuff, I knew I didn't like it already... but when the time came for him to shoot... ah! I couldn't help blinking lah...and because, well, I've been pretty down lately, my eyes were already kind of swollen, so the final pictures (I didn't blink...yay!) show me looking a bit ghostly...haha...looks ok from afar...wait, VERY FAR...but if you look closer, you might get freaked out after a while...haha
Anyway, can't deny that I still can't find much happiness around...but at least, I do have a clue as to why Helen's not talking to me. Check this out...this is what she scrawled on the whiteboard after school before she left for cca:
theatre is life, God is evil.
We'll see...
Me blogged @ | 10:56 PM
