Nucleoside vs Nucleotide

Nucleoside vs Nucleotide

Nucleoside and Nucleotide mnemonic:
nucleoSide has Sugar and baSe.
nucleoTide has phosphaTe.

"Captain Obvious reporting to duty!"

Amino acids necessary for purine synthesis mnemonic

Amino acids necessary for purine synthesis menmonic

Amino acids necessary for purine synthesis menmonic:
"GAG"
Glycine. Aspartate. Glutamine.

The image helps me remember "Purines" & "Gag" together.

"PURr GAGa"

Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides mnemonic

Mnemonic for purine nucleotides:

"Pure as gold"

"PURe as AG"

Purine nucleotides are Adenine and Guanine.

"Goooold"

Mnemonic for pyrimidine nucleotides:

"Cut the pie"

"CUT the PY"

Pyrimidine nucleotides are Cytosine, Uracil and Thymine.

"3.14159265..."










How to remember that it is pyrimidine - pyrimidine dimers and not purine - purine dimers that are formed on exposure to UV light: Pyrimidine is the bigger word. People who have big hearts fall in love with each other.

"It's bigger on the inside."

-IkaN

Mnemonic for base pairing of nucleotides

DNA base pairs menemonic

Mnemonic for base pairing of nucleotides:

"GCAT"

G ≡ C, A = T.

Guanine forms three hydrogen bonds with cytosine.

Adenine forms two hydrogen bonds thymine.

"Gee.. CAT!"

Amino acids with electrically charged side chains mnemonic

Mnemonic for positively charged basic amino acids:

"He is liar"

"Heis LyAr"

Histidine. Lysine. Arginine.

"He is basically a liar, he is positively a liar, LyAr Heis."

Say that to yourself a few times and you've got em memorized! =P

Mnemonic for negatively charged amino acids:

"GA"

Glutamate. Aspartate.

Glutamic acid. Aspartic acid. Acidic amino acids.

"GAGAGAGAGA"

Updated on 22/11/2013:
Question asked on tumblr:
Basicity: the willingness to donate electrons
Wait, why would they be positive again? Aaaaahhhh

Answer:
Hey don’t get confused between your “basic” concepts! *pun intended*

I was talking about being positive in the physiological pKa.

All amino acids can act as either an acid or a base because they have a carboxyl group than can lose protons and an amino group than can gain protons/donate electrons.

Amino acids that are said to be basic have an extra moiety which will accept electrons (Their side chains contain nitrogen and resemble ammonia, which is a base at neutral pH).

They will have iso electric points at a pH higher than physiological pH and will be positively charged at physiological pH (You need a more alkaline environment to obtain an overall neutral charge because the amino group can hold onto another proton).

In other words, their pKa’s are high enough that they tend to bind protons, gaining a positive charge in the process.


Similarly, amino acids that are said to be acidic have an extra carboxyl group. They will have iso electric points at a pH lower than physiological pH and be negatively charged at physiological pH (You need a more acidic environment to obtain an overall neutral charge because the carboxyl groups can more easily lose a proton).

Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia mnemonic

Hey everyone!

I modified the mnemonic I had for the MEN syndromes to make them work for me =)
Here it goes -

Mnemonic for MEN I: "I pee."
For MEN I, remember the P's.
Pituitary, Parathyroid, Pancreas.

One sounds like, "Won", reminding us that MEN I is also known as Wermer's syndrome.

Mnemonic for MEN IIA: "I am meant to sit in an AC room."
For MEN IIA, remember the C's.
Calcitonin, Calcium, Catecholamines.

I think of "2 ASS" to memorize MEN 2A is also known as Sipple Syndrome.

Mnemonic for MEN IIB:
"Every man wants to be a Pharaoh with a Medium Car on Mars with the New Romans."
Pheocytochroma, Medullary carcinoma, Marfan's syndrome, Neuromas.

I made an illustration for this too xD

MEN IIB illustration mnemonic

Tropia vs Phoria

What is Strabismus?
A condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other.

What is tropia?
A misalignment of the two eyes when a patient is looking with binocular vision and the two eyes are looking at the same object.

What is phoria?
A misalignment of the two eyes that only appears when binocular viewing is broken and the two eyes are no longer looking at the same object.

Progression of visual field defects in Glaucoma mnemonic

I had to memorize this for med school exams T_T

What is Glaucoma?

A group of disorders characterized by progressive optic neuropathy resulting in characteristic appearance of optic disc & a specific pattern of irreversible visual field defects that are associated frequently but invariably with raised intraocular pressure (IOP).
(Simply put, optic nerve fibres are damaged in glaucoma making the optic disc look funny & causes vision loss. It may or may not be associated with raised pressure in the eye.)

Loss of nerve fibres causes visual field defects & optic disc changes in glaucoma.

This blog post covers visual field defects =)

Mnemonic: IC BB Wings & SAD Steps

Progression of visual field defects in Glaucoma mnemonic

Intrinsic & extrinsic incubation period

What is incubation period?
The time interval between invasion by an infectious agent and the appearance of the first sign or symptom of the disease in question. (It is also known as intrinsic incubation period if spoken in reference to a vector borne disease.)

What is extrinsic incubation period?
In reference to vector borne diseases, it is the period of time necessary for the development of disease agent in the arthropod host or invertebrate which transmits infection.

For example: Malaria.
The extrinsic incubation period is the period of time required for the development of the parasite from the gametocyte to sporozoite stage in the body of the mosquito.
It is about 10-28 days depending on the vector species, temperature & humidity.

Hashimoto's & Graves' disease mnemonic

In Hashimoto’s disease, there are antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and/or thyroglobulin.
It is the most common cause of primary hypothyroidism.

In Graves’ disease, there are antibodies against thyrotropin receptor (TSH receptor) also known as Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulins (TSI).
It is the most common cause of primary hyperthyroidism.

Myopia and Hypermetropia mnemonic

Myopia and Hypermetropia mnemonic

Miosis & Mydriasis mnemonic

Hi everyone!

Eye see you reading this post.. EYE see you, get it? ;)

We are learning about the eye today, isn't that spectacular? =P

We should stop using ophthalmology puns, they are way too cornea! :D

Let's get started, seeriously!

What is miosis?
Constriction of the pupil.

What is mydriasis?
Dilation of the pupil.

Mnemonic:
MyDriasis has a D, D for dilates the pupil.

OR
Mydriasis is a bigger word, so it stands for big pupil (dilated pupil).
Miosis is a smaller word, and therefore is a constricted pupil. 

Nerve supply:
Parasympathetic axons innervate the iris sphincter muscle, producing miosis.
Sympathetic nervous system supplies the iris dilator, composed of radially arranged muscle fibers, producing mydriasis.

How do I remember this? @__@

I am really scared of ghosts, they stimulate my sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight or fright response)

Ghosts show up at night, when there is low light.

Pupils dilate in low light, when my sympathetic nervous system kicks in.

Sympathetic nervous system dilates the pupil!

Sympathetic nervous system dilates the eye (Mydriasis) mnemonic

That's a silly association I use to help me remember.
Hope it helps! ^__^

That's all!

Ghost be like, "I feel you creeping, I can see it from my shadow"

-IkaN

Emoticon game on Pharmacology

Hey everyone!

We recently got 500 followers on tumblr & I couldn't think of a more fun way to celebrate it!! =D

Emoticon game

I won't be posting the answers online but you can email me on medicowesome@gmail.com for the answers and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

That's all!

-IkaN