Immunology 415: Immunology Journal

  Week of 11/6/20 This week since our case study had more to do with IgA deficiency, which is a topic we briefly went over in class, I wanted to further expound on my research. Specifically, I wanted to figure out the4 pathophysiology of how this disease comes about. Since IgA is one of the various subtypes of antibodies, it plays a huge role in fighting off bacterial infections. In my research, those with IgA immunodeficiency typically respond well to vaccines. Those with this deficiency may be symptomatic or asymptomatic. Although, a large majority are typically asymptomatic which is why the disease may go undetected for so long. As we know, it IgA is the second most common antibody and is found on mucosal barriers such as the respiratory and digestive tracts. In addition to being found in saliva, tears, and breastmilk. In infants, breastmilk provides a defense mechanism against infections in the early stages of their life. Furthermore, as I got deeper in my research it was found tha

 Week of 10/30/2020 During this week, I felt a bit more relaxed and at ease since we did have our midterm break these past couple of days. During this break, I took the time to relax but also work on recalling past Information as exams are quickly approaching. The break definitely did help alleviate some of the stress I encountered during midterm exams. As far as in the class, I feel like I definitely have room for improvement. I need to study harder since I now know the complexity and detail that goes into taking exams for this class. I am going to take my study time more serious and Mae this class one of my bigger priorities as it is more on the complex side of biology. I feel as though the class is going by so quick and there's lots of information to process at once. Now is the time I am going to take so my final grade is better than my midterm grade. 

 Week of October 23, 2020     This past week was more so fo a calmer week compared to last week since we are going into midterm break. I feel as though the class is a bit challenging but then again, if it wasn't a challenge I feel as though we would never learn. I am definitely enjoying midterm break as these past exams that I've had have been more on the difficult side. My learning style is definitely more visual and I enjoy the powerpoint slides as they do carry a lot of detail and nice photos. I am definitely learning content that I had never seen before and the class is very interesting and extremely relevant as we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. My grade on my exam was decent but for next time, I know I have to study harder to improve it. I definitely need to be quicker with my skills since the time limit we received on the exam was not too great. I need to study more this way I am able to narrow down the answers quicker and move onto the next questions so I can

 Week of October 16      This past week has been hectic for me. Exams on exams and projects to come along with them. We recently took our first exam and I don't feel too confident about it simply because of the time limit that was given to complete all those questions. I had to rush and for the last couple of questions, I pretty much just submitted whatever I saw that pertained to the questions. The information i'm learning is relevant as i'm planning on going into pharmacy. Learning how certain meds inhibit certain processes in the immune system plays a key role. Im currently taking biochem, which is definitely helping me to better understand the class when it comes to proteins and their structure. The material i'm learning is actually interesting and I definitely know a lot more about the immune system then what I previously knew. Previously, I  just understood that there was an innate and adaptive system but I didn't hear too much about the complement system. We

  Week of 10/9/20     Yesterday, I was here at home grading some lab reports from the Bio 140 nursing class. Their lab reports discussed on hematology, which is of course, the study of blood and their related diseases. It was more so like a cause study in which they were given background info of three different patients and they had to go ahead and decipher what disease was causing their symptoms. For one of the patients, the cause or illness was malaria. The woman had traveled outside of the country and had an increase neutrophils. As we learned in immunology class, neutrophils serve as the first line of defense. Therefore, an increase in neutrophils signals some form of infection. In addition, they function to heal damaged tissues. They also block, disable, digest, and ward off pathogens. These cells communicate with other immune cells to repair themselves and form a proper immune response against the pathogen at hand. As we know, neutrophils are called by cytokines and neutrophils t

    Week of October 2 1. Cytokines - hormones produced by lymphocytes that communicate with other immune cells, which help recruit those cells to perform more aggressively to eradicate the pathogen or reject some foreign material i.e bone marrow transplant or a fetus.  http://www.biosciencenotes.com/cytokines/ 2. Heparin - a drug that is considered a blood thinner and prevents blood clots. It is also naturally occurring in the human body. The difference is that when it is injected in higher doses, it is sufficient enough to act as a blood thinner vs when its produced in the body.  http://medchemexpress.net/Heparin.html 3.  Opsonization - the process in which antigens are coated in opsonin (a marker or tag) that allow the immune system to recognize it and marks it for phagocytosis or, in the case of dead cells, for recycling. Nanocarrier-internalization-by-opsonization-and-phagocytosis-a-Unless-specifically.png