The CADDi by BarbCo

 

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Episode Name msb-0361 We don't  call them Reds now, do we?

 

Direct Link to episode -> http://media.libsyn.com/media/msb/msb-0361_We_dont__call_them_Reds_now_do_we_.m4a

 

YouTube Vids

 

Intro

 

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Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

 

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Survey

 

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FeedBack comes first, so...

 

The music this time is all coming to you from Siberia courtesy of "Ozone's Layer" which happens to be the English for the band's name: "Ozonovly Sloy."

Its 1:59 in the morning.

I've got insomnia, (or maybe I am getting back to my old "four hours a night" sleeping habits,) and right now I'm listening to podcasts of neuropod. [ http://www.nature.com/neurosci/neuropod/index.html ]

I'm a bit obsessive. (My wife just said: "A bit? A BIT? You're a freakin' lunatic! Turn off the light,  come to bed and get off the freakin' computer!" Yes dear... I'll just finish this paragraph, put my headphones on, and I'll just close the door shall I?[A nice way of saying: "I'm not"])

You can get NeuroPod from the iTunes Music Store by clicking on the image right now and I'll take you right to it.. [ http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=293009177 ]

I find myself fascinated by the brain and its functions.

Specifically these days I'm fascinated by the role of glial cells (More on this later in the podcast.)

I also listen to the Neurology® podcast from the American Academy of Neurology but that one is a bit tougher.

---- "ZVONI... /Call Me.../" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

 

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FeedForward

 

---- "RUSSIAN MORNING AFTER PARTY" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

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FeedMe 

 

I now have TWO sponsors.

I told you, way back when, getting the first one was the toughest.

Now I have two and it didn't take another three years and several thousands more dollars of spending on my part.

The links are synchronized with the messages on the m4a right now.

It you're listening on this through iTunes or through a web browser, just click on the image for the sponsor and I'll take you right to the appropriate web page.

If you're on an iPhone or an iPod touch, you should be good to go too.

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The first sponsor, you should be all familiar with and maybe even have bought some t-shirts.[ http://www.artoshirt.net/servlet/the-MS-Artists/Categories ]

I'm still in love with my T-Shirts,

I'm wearing one right now.

The one by Mark Carpenter that says "Its the little things in life..." [ http://www.artoshirt.net/servlet/the-336/Little-things-by-Mark/Detail ]

Dang but it looks good.

I love black-and-white photography.

That sort of explains some of the posters and art hanging on the wall around here.

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I received the CADDi in the mail, and, after trying it out, I feel that I can honestly recommend the CADDi by BARBCO. [ http://barbco.biz ]

The picture of the CADDi in use sort of says it all.

Its a caddy for carrying around your hot or cold drinks, without risking life, limb, or whatever you're wearing, from spilling your drink.

I'm wondering how to attach it to a wheelchair. but I don't have one so I've got nothing to experiment with.

I'd probably sling it over the handles in the back and be able to retrieve it from there.

As I told you in the last episode, I am breaking with my role of trying to carry ads or getting sponsors strictly from MS related products.

The CADDI is for non MSers but it could/should be for us too.

---- "FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

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Thesis:

 

The music is the Russian again, just because. I play a lot of it because I like listening to it.

I'm going to tell you about things that live in our heads other than the neurons.

In fact they seem to be the same as the traces in electronic circuits.

Everybody's caught up in the number of transistors and resistors and capacitors as indicative of the power of computers, but if its wasn't for the lowly traces between the so called active components in the circuits, you'd have nothing but a pile of dirty sand instead of a working computer.

Here now are the seven types of less sexy non-neuronal glial cells that make up more of our human brains than do  the neurons.

My source for this episode is primarily Wikipedia and its references. (And Google of course. [As we often  say 'round the house here: "Google knows all" {Its just that its a total dick about only being a purely "reactive" source of information.}}])

---- "BRUSH-GIRLIE/SADO-MASOCHISM GIRL/" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

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Synthesis:

 

In this episode, I am making up for my own ignorance of the inside of my own head.

As it turn out, the inside of my head is made up of a lot more interesting stuff than just undifferentiated gray goo.

Then again, the universe is made up of a lot more than just the the stars we see in the night sky.

I'm going to go from the largest cells by sheer mass to the smallest ones, out on the periphery.

 

 

 

First are cells that grow the fatty sheath called myelin. Those are called Oligodendrocytes and they make up about 75% of the mass.

Then come cell that anchor to their blood supply, regulate the chemical environment in the brain, build the "blood-brain" barrier, have their own chemical transmission system using calcium and IP3 (Inositol trisphosphate)Those cells are called Astrocytes and they make up about 17% of the mass.

Then come MIcroglia which  make up about 6.5% of the mass that's between our ears, being broken down into:

 

    •    Ependymal cells which secrete cerebrospinal fluid,

 

    •    Radial glia which serve as a scaffold on new neurons migrate,

 

    •    Schwann cells which are another kind of cell which are responsible for generating myelin

 

    •    Sattelite cells which surround neurons in sensory, sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia.

 

    •    Enteric glial cells (which are found in our digestive system.)

Actual neuronal cells make up about 10% of the gray goo that's between my ears (and elsewhere as it turns out. [Who knew that my stomach contains its own brain.])

---- "COLD WAR" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

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Conclusion:

 

Our brains are absolutely fascinating organs and the complexity of the neuronal circuitry, and the effects that arise from the complexity of the interconnection of all of the cells are extremely interesting since it results in the emergence of... us.

I take very great exception to the view of he dendrites and axons are the be-all and end-all of neuroscience.

The various sources I have examined over the years divide the brain into neurons and glial cells and hold that glial cells are nothing but the servants of the neurons.

Bullshit..

I want to clarify that MS is NOT a disease of of the brain.

Its a disease of the immune system which attacks the myelin sheath (which we just saw is produced by two glial cells, the oligodendrocytes and the Schwann cells.)

---- "ON THE VERY BRINK OF SKY /KAMCHATKA/" by: "ozonoviy sloy" http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 

 

Outro

 

SongList

 

Theme and 'incidental music' from:

"msb_theme",

 by: "Guy David",

 http://www.guydavid.com/

 no album,

 via personal contract

 

Song list

 

"ZVONI... /Call Me.../"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

"RUSSIAN MORNING AFTER PARTY"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

"FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

"BRUSH-GIRLIE/SADO-MASOCHISM GIRL/"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

"COLD WAR"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

"ON THE VERY BRINK OF SKY /KAMCHATKA/"

 by: "ozonoviy sloy"

 http://www.ozonoviy-sloy.narod.ru/

 album: "none"

 via: music.podshow.com

 

 

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PhotoCredits:

 

 All images, synchronized with the songs, are of the artists and come via music.podshow.com except when they aren't. :-)

 

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