Brain Meninges: Two Mothers and a Spider

Meninges are membranes that protect central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). From external to internal, the meninges are dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater. In this post, I will talk about brain meninges (spinal meninges are a little different to brain meninges).

Meninges

Dura Mater

Literally, dura mater means tough mother. It consists of two layers: periosteal and meningeal. The periosteal attaches to the cranium and the meningeal layer continues to caudal as spinal dura mater.

Arachnoid Mater

Arachnoid mater is separated from dura mater by subdural space. Arachnida means spider. Why is this membrane called arachnoid? Below arachnoid mater, there is subarachnoid space. There is spider web-like extension in this space for securing arachnoid mater to pia mater. 

Pia Mater

Pia mater means gentle mother. As the name implies, it's a gentle membrane rich with tiny blood vessels that wraps the brain.

References

Marieb, E. and Hoehn, K. (2013). Human anatomy & physiology. Boston: Pearson.

T, V. (2013). Flashcards - Ch. 13 Meninges - Meninges (3) Dura Mater (tough mother) | StudyBlue. [online] StudyBlue. Available at: https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/ch-13-meninges/deck/9223760 [Accessed 28 Feb. 2015].

p.s. In formal academic setting, a flashcard like in studyblue can't be used as reference. However, since this is a blog and I only use the site as a picture source, I think it's fine.

Friday Lecture Note

Today's assignment in Blogging 101 is to create a posting feature. I decide to create "Friday Lecture Note" and I will start next Friday since I'm still on a holiday.
In Friday Lecture Note, I will share what I learn from Monday to Friday in medical school. I may share lecture note, discussion note, or practicum note. If you have question or think that I share wrong information, feel free to ask or tell me because I don't want people to be confused or get wrong medical information.

I've Filled the White Space

In my previous post, I showed my doodle with a lot of white space and I didn't know what to do with the white space. Jen the Artist from Under Open Skies suggested me to draw black and white patterns that were smaller than my colour pieces but not so small. Shruti from DeepLifeInsights said that I might use light colour base for the background. However, I ended up filling the white space with so small patterns and not so light colour.

Weekly Doodle: Celebrate the Colours

Today's assignment from Blogging 101 is to try another blogging event. I found the Weekly Doodle event and the latest doodle theme is celebration.
What I remember about any celebration is colour. It's the yellow "janur" (coconut young leaf) in many Indonesian weddings or the red colour of Chinese new year. Since I'm not so good at creating a celebration image, I doodle colour.

I've just realised there is still a lot of white space. What should I do with the white space?

A Story about Deadline

"Journalist: a person without any ideas but with an ability to express them; a writer whose skill is improved by a deadline: the more time he has, the worse he writes."

          -Karl Kraus-

When I read that quote for the first time, I laughed. "It's true!" I said. 
I'm not a newspaper journalist so I don't experience crazy deadline but I understand that "skill is improved by a deadline" part. Usually, I have three days to finish an article and the process goes like the following.

Day I
I interview. After that I'm like, "I still have a lot of time. I'll write the article tomorrow. I'm still tired from that interview."

Day II
I try to write the article. After writing a few sentences, I read the sentences again and I'm like, "This is terrible. I can't even stand reading an article that's written like this." Then, I think, "I guess I should take a rest and maybe I can find the proper sentence later."

Day III
Few hours before deadline, even an hour before deadline, I can write well and the article is fine.

Note: I don't promote procrastination. I just share my experience.

Ande-ande Lumut

This morning, I bought ande-ande lumut. In Javanese, "Ande-ande Lumut" can be a name of folktale character, or a food.

Ande-ande Lumut

The food above is ande-ande lumut. It is made of cassava (Manihot esculenta). The thick white liquid (or sauce) is made of coconut milk. I asked my mother, "How can coconut milk become thick?" She said, "Some of the cassava is grated and it made the coconut milk become thick." However, I read some recipes that doesn't mention "grate some cassava". The recipes just tell to stir the sauce until it become thick.

To be honest, my family haven't made ande-ande lumut for a long time but here I will try to write a recipe without measurement (duh).

You will need:

• cassava
• coconut milk
• sugar or palm sugar
• pandan leaf (Pandanus amaryllifolius)
• salt (only a little)
• water if necessary

How to cook it

1. Peel and cut the cassava into small pieces.
2. Grate some cassava (this step can be skipped).
3. Boil all the stuff and stir until the cassava is soft enough to bite and the coconut milk becomes thick.

I will edit or re-write this post someday after I make it again (or not).

 

I Draw Moomins

My Polish friend told me about the Moomins. The Moomins are central characters in books and comic strip by Swedish-speaking Finnish writer and illustrator, Tove Jansson. You can read more about the Moomins in wikipedia and Moomin's website.
Today, I tried to draw four Moomins. 

This is the picture of Moomins that I got from the internet:

Front to back: Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Moomintroll, Snorkmaiden

And this is the result of my drawing:

My Drawing