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Boring people language:

Stage 1: Cleavage

After fertilisation, the zygote undergoes a series of mitotic division to form a ball of cells (morula). Each cell in the morula is known as a blastomere. The blastomeres in the centre of the morula secrete a fluid which would cause the formation of a cavity which is known as the blastocoel. At this stage, the embryo is known as a blastula. The pattern of cleavage is influenced by the amount of yolk and its location in the cell. In mammals, the yolk is fairly evenly distributed. However, cleavage in mammalian blastula would cause the formation of an inner cell mass which develops into the embryo, and an outer cell mass - known as trophoblast - will contribute to the development of the placenta.

Stage 2: Gastrulation

One side of the blastula will form an indentation, due to the the invagination of the cells. In aquatic vertebrates, the invagination will go to the extent of obliterating the blastocoel altogether. The invagination will eventually form a new cavity - the archenteron. The layer of cells that line the archenteron is known as the endoderm, while the remaining layer of cells outside is known as the ectoderm. Some cells migrate between the endoderm and the ectoderm, forming the mesoderm. Gastrulation is complete once these three layers of cells are formed.

Stage 3: Organogenesis

One part of the mesoderm will differentiate into the notochord - a cartilage-like tissue which functions much as a supporting rod. The ectoderm just above will proliferate, thicken and differentiate into the neural plate - the base for the formation of the central nervous system. The neural plate grows inwards, forming the neural groove. The ends of the neural groove grow towards each other and fuse together, forming the neural tube. The remaining mesoderm, endoderm and ectoderm will develop into various organs; the endoderm mainly develops into the digestive system, the ectoderm into sensory organs and epidermis, and the mesoderm into the dermis of the skin and the central nervous system.

Birth process in humans

Stage 1: Dilation

As a preparation for birth, the fetus turns so that its head is towards the cervix. Oestrogen levels are high and progesterone levels plummet. High levels of oestrogen raises the sensitivity of the myometrium towards oxytocin. Low levels of progesterone will remove the inhibition of uterine contraction caused by high levels of progesterone. The fetal pituitary gland will secrete adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). ACTH acts to stimulate the maternal adrenal glands to release corticosteroid. Corticosteroid has two functions: firstly, it further inhibits the secretion of progesterone. Low levels of progesterone will induce the secretion of oxytosin by the maternal posterior pituitary gland. Corticosteroid also stimulates the releasing of prostaglandin by the placenta. Low levels of progesterone and the presence of oxytosin induces uterine contraction. Prostaglandin functions by strengthening the effect of oxytosin. The action of uterine contraction activates a positive feedback mechanism, which causes the secretion of more and more oxytosin which in turn results in increasingly stronger contractions. The dilation stage ends when the cervix is dilated (due to the pressure exerted by the fetus) to about 10 cm wide.

Stage 2: Parturition

Stage 2 is initiated when the amniotic sac bursts, causing the amniotic fluid to flow out. The fetus’ head continues to exert pressure (to the bladder and rectum), stimulating the mother to ‘push’. The fetus usually emerges headfirst, followed by the shoulder, torso, buttocks and finally the legs. About 3%-4% of fetus comes out feetfirst - this inverted order is dubbed "breech birth". Parturition ends when the whole fetus emerges.

Stage 3: Placental stage

The uterus continues to contract, though not so strongly, even after the fetus has been expelled. These contactions would finally force the placenta and the umbillical chord out. Following the removal of the placenta, oestrogen and progesterone levels drop drastically - so as to disallow inhibition of the secretion of prolactin by the pituitary glands. Prolactin is vital in its role to stimulate milk production at the mammory glands.

Layman’s language: Shag till she gets pregnant, after +-9 months give birth to a whole new world of headache.

My memory has served me well. I have succesfully memorized 1% of the entire syllabus (This is one subtopic out of like 7 subtopics in this chapter. There are 25 chapters. This is NOT the longest chapter). If anyone cared to read at all, feel free to correct any mistakes.

Well… since I cannot tear myself away from the computer, might as well kill two birds with one stone right. Do revision WITH the computer.

Damn, I’m pathetic.

Yeah, I know I should be studying.

Should be.

Living life right pretty much revolves around doing things you should be doing- working hard, studying hard, stuffing yourself with health supplements, eating right, and so on and so forth. And it gets worse, the older you grow. More things to worry about, more bills to pay, more health issues- it doesn’t end- until you die.

I don’t really look forward to adulthood.

I’m trying hard to squeeze in every bit of enjoyment I can into my life now. Computing, playing with the guitar, blasting music over the headphones, hanging out- stuff like that- stuff that I enjoy doing. Sounds trivial? Maybe. But I enjoy them.

I can’t do those things when I get older. Yeah, I can, but I won’t have time. I will have deadlines to meet, assignments to finish, bills to pay, and if I’m married- hungry mouths to feed. I will be so tired at the end of the day I may not even remember my name. And if I don’t have deadlines to meet, no assignments to finish, no bills to pay and not married, then I am dead. Dead as in not alive.

I am sad.

No, seriously. I’ve really had enough of hydrogen bonds, alkenes and their ten chemical reactions. I am also sick of Van der Waals, as much as I am tired of the monomers of rubber. I have absolutely no interest in the way the atoms are arranged in a piece of fiber. Don’t bore me with the three thousand things you can do with aluminium. I am not interested. At all.

Don’t tell me to "study for self improvement". Don’t tell me to study just for the sake of passing the paper. Hell, yes, of course I am not aiming for a mere pass. A pass gets you nowhere. It might, thirty years ago. Or if you are really lucky. But for most cases, you might as well work in a rubber plantation now. Saves you the time.

All these are inevitable.

But I’m still going to gripe about it.

Initially, I had thought of taking a break off blogging due to my trials. Somehow, my laziness got the better of me and there you have it, nearly two months off.

I am the very definition of procrastination. The simplest of tasks rarely get completed in good time. Even as I type, my mug sits hopefully on my table, awaiting a nice clean bath to wash off the stale Milo. It has been there for about a week already. Well, thanks to the constant supply of cups Mom Dad Bro Sis and Yours truly get off farewell gifts, christmas gifts, birthday gifts, etc., etc., there is no hurry to wash this one.

My life as it seems nowadays revolves a lot around stealth and espionage action. I have to be completely alert on the activities of Mommy and Daddy (which are obviously antagonists here), time my movement well, and when they are not looking my direction, unleash my flurry of button mashing on the latest craze and love (and frustration) of my life: Megaman X8. Somehow my mind always relates my parents to Sigma, the ultimate bad guy in the game.

I wonder how my Playstation 2 is doing. Heck, come to think of it, I don’t even remember where I stashed it! Well, it had better be in good condition because it will be working lots of late nights soon.

I can already see that some of my friends are already starting to "pair up"- thumbs up to you guys. Of course, some are less fortunate: the girl didn’t notice him, the guy has his eyes on another girl, parents don’t let, dog don’t let, sister don’t like, etc., etc. Well, all I can say is get a good DVD game and forget about it.

It’s raining DVD games outside. That’s not good, because I have tuition in about 20 minutes. Evenings like this should be spent sitting at the computer with a cup of coffee and a good computer game to blast away with. Instead, I’m paying 30 bucks a month to learn.. Um.. Learn what?