Walter Reed to close?

A Hospital Closes Because Staff Don’t Want To Walk Too Much?

Apparently WRAMC is built on land owned by the District of Columbia. In an effort to subsidize the over-budget subway system, the city purposefully disallowed sufficient parking spaces to be built on the WRAMC site. The idea was to force staff to take the subway to WRAMC. The closest subway is a 20 minute walk from the hospital.

I’m not interested in the argument set forth by the author but more so by the closure of Walter Reed. I am 100% for green efforts especially for federal services but considering that the medical staff is on their feet all day long makes for a compelling argument to make the hospital more accessible. I’m not so sure the author of this article understands what is physically required from the staff and patients.

Let’s continue to refresh some basic principles In chemistry. The ionic compound is a chemical compound in which ions (An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons (An electron is a subatomic particle. Carrying a (-)negative charge, it orbits an atom’s nucleus and is bound to it by electromagnetic forces.) are held together in a lattice structure by ionic bonds

• It has a mass that is minuscule in comparison with even the smallest of atoms, coming in at about one thousandth the size of the tiniest atom.
• It is a basic unit of nature, meaning it cannot be broken down into smaller units.
• It plays a starring roll in many of the interactions we see on a daily basis. For example, electrons are partially responsible for the fact that we can stand on a flat surface and not sink right through it. This occurs as the result of the mutual repulsion of the electrons in both the ground and a person’s shoes. We also depend on electrons for electrical current to power electronic devices. Even televisions rely on electrons to function properly.

Usually, the positively charged portion consists of metal cations (cations are positively charged ions) and the negatively charged portion is an anion or polyatomic ion. Ions in ionic compounds are held together by the electrostatic force between oppositely charged bodies. Ionic compounds have a high melting and boiling point, and they have a high hardness and are very brittle.

Had my first chemistry exam today. This was entirely too easy of test to do as poorly as I did. I definitely did not study sufficiently this week as I’ve been distracted by physical therapy and getting the biomechanics on my race bike dialed in. Here is a sample question from today’s exam:

A 450.0g piece of iron (sFe = 0.473J/gºC) was heated to 275ºC and put into 650g of water.  If the final temperature of the mixture was 45.0ºC, what was the initial temperature of the water?

For this problem you need to have committed a comonly used formula to memory.

mFe*sFe*(Tf- TiFe) + mw*sw*(Tf – Tiw) = 0

Basically matter or “m” of iron (symbol Fe) times specific heat or “s” of iron times (final temperature minus (-) intiail temperature) or what is called change in temperature (delta t)

Plus (+)

matter of water etc. etc. So Fe being iron w being water.

We then work the problem out algebraically inputing the known values from the question into the forumla

450.0g(0.473J/gºC)(45.0ºC -275ºC) + 650g(4.184J/gºC)(45.0ºC – Tiw) = 0

212.9J/ºC(-230ºC) + 2720J/ºC(45.0ºC – Tiw) = 0

-48970J + 12200J – (2720J/ºC) Tiw = 0

73400 J  =  (2720 J/ºC) Tiw

Tiw = 27ºC

Mnemonics

During the course of Anatomy classes a student has to come to terms with the fact that their quantitative abilities and analytical skills are of little use.  Much of Anatomy is brute force memorization, a simple storage of hundreds of proper names to be held just long enough to be regurgitated on a lecture and lab exam.

One of the most helpful things for me during Anatomy last year was the use of mneomic devices. I recall during a lab exam having over 50 parts of the human nervous system laying on lab tables across a room. The device that helped me ace the portion where I had to identify whether a nerve was sensory,motor, or both (seen in the photo above) was:

Cranial nerves: sensory, motor or both “Some Say Money Matters But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More”:
· From I to XII:
Sensory
Sensory
Motor
Motor
Both
Motor
Both
Sensory
Both
Both
Motor
Motor
· Alternatives for “Brains”: Boobs, Buns, Bras.

The one I used for aiding me in the naming of these portions of the brain was:

For names in order: Oh Once One Takes The Anatomy Final Very Good
Vacations Are Heavenly

Each word’s first letter being a hint to the actual name,

I. Olfactory Nerve (smell sensations)
II. Optic Nerve (visual information)
III. Oculomotor Nerve (motor commands to eye muscles)
IV. Trochelar Nerve (motor commands to eye muscles)
V. Trigeminal Nerve (facial sensations & motor commands to chewing muscles)
VI. Abducens Nerve (motor commands to eye muscles)
VII. Facial Nerve (taste sensations & motor commands to muscles of facial expression)
VIII. Vestibulocochlear Nerve (hearing & equilibrium sensations)
IX. Glossopharyngeal Nerve (taste sensations & motor commands to swallowing
muscles)
X. Vagus Nerve (visceral sensations & motor commands to viscera)
XI. Accessory Nerve (motor commands to head moving muscles)
XII. Hypoglossal Nerve (tongue movements)