无字的请批

Yeah! today I got my new specs... love it... :p well... since now I'm waiting for someone, might as well crap something here. Hmm... I saw this evening's sky and I felt... celestial... beautiful clouds of yellow and pink and purple upon a pale azure sky. Makes me float...

Basically, I've made a new friend on Mid Autumn festival - Qiu Ping. She is a great girl. Truly nice and beautiful in her own way. I never knew her name but I noticed her presence in AIMST. hehehe... stewpid right? Mid Autunm festival was quite nice though but I did not really enjoy it. We heard that there would be a gathering at SP park/garden at night, so Chew Weng and Kai Liang organised a gathering there. I'm sure they all had a great time. It was kind of nice to see candle lights everywhere in the park at night. Beautiful.

Nowadays, school seems to be quite hectic. Lab reports, assignments, presentations, bla bla bla... Today, my biology presentation wasn't very good. My group, of Priya (dari sini) Darishini, Sobanah (so banana), and Li Chi (ah Chi), got the topic Phenylketonuria (PKU). It is an autosomal recessive genetic disease where phenylalanine accumulates in the blood due to lack of phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme. It is due to the mutation which happens in chromosome number 12, the q (long) arm, position 22 to 24, where, in classic PKU, the amino acid argenine in the 408th position is substituted with tryptophan, thus resulting in either a non-functional protein or another type of protein produced instead of phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme.

Generally, we divided the presentation into a few parts: Introduction, Genetics, Biochemistry, Pathophysiology, Clinical Medicine, and Treatment. Priya started off introducing superficially on what PKU is. Then I continued with the Genetics of PKU. I took over the Biochemistry part also as I am already quite familiar with the terms used and the Chemistry of phenylalanine (Thank you Dr. Thet! ). Phenylalanine is converted to tyrosine and this reaction is catalysed by the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase and its coenzyme tetrahydrobiopterin. If either the enzyme or the coenzyme is absent from the body, then phenylalanine cannot be conerted into tyrosine. This will cause accumulation of phenylalanine in the circulatory system.

Phenylalanine, will undergo an alternative metabolism to yield phenylpyruvic acid, phenylacetic acid, phenyllactic acid and phenylethylamine. The derivative phenylacetic acid, or phenylacetate, will give out a musty 'mousy' odour in sweat and urine. This is one of the symptoms of PKU. Since phenylalanine is in the circulatory system, it can be transported to the brain. There, the blood brain barrier (BBB) present to control substances moving in and out of the brain. Large amino acids like phenylalanine is transported across the BBB via the large neutral amino acid transporter (LNAAT). If the blood has high concentration of phenylalanine, then phenylalanine would competitively bind to the LNAAT with other amino acids. Phenylalanine would saturate the LNAAT, thus we can say only phenylalanine is transported to the brain. Since there is only phenylalanine in the brain and not much of other amino acids, the brain cannot grow or develop properly, thus causing mental retardation. This causes the degeneration of the Myelin sheath also and this would disturb the nerve conduction and nervous system (both centrally and peripherally). Therefore, patients of PKU often experience symptoms like seizures, slow reaction, and spasticity.

Tyrosine is important in the body as it is a precursor of many other things in the body like the pigment melanin, neurotransmitters epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. In PKU, since tyrosine is low, then the production of these chemicals would be less, thus resulting in the discoordination of the nervous system (centrally and peripherally). Low levels of melanin results in albinism.

There is no pharmacotherapy for PKU. The treatment is just to control the intake of phenylalanine for life. Screenings for PKU include enzyme assay to test for carriers of PKU, and Guthrie test, where the newborn baby's heel is pricked and the blood is tested on the growth of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis on beta-2-thyenylalanine. Beta-2-thyenylalanine inhibits the growth of the bacteria but it could be overcome by phenylalanine. Therefore, PKU patients, with high phenylalanine level in the blood, will result in a positive test where the bacteria could grow. Carriers of PKU are detected via enzyme assay where phenylalanine is administered orally, then the rate of clearance of phenylalanine from the body is being tested. For carriers, it takes about 8-10 hours for the phenylalanine to be cleared.

Sobana did on the Pathophysiology and Clinical Medicine I of PKU while Li Chi presented on Clinical Medicine II and Clinical Medicine III. We presented half-way only though as time does not allow us to finish the presentation. When it was time for Priya Darishini to present, Mr. Hoe asked us to stop as the time for Biology had ended. Priya was so so so agitated as she still had her part to finish (don't worry, everything will be fine).

Actually, I still feel rejected among the people here in AIMST. I do not know what I should do. I have been putting on the mask for these three months now and things began to go haywire yesterday when I had a misunderstanding with Li Chi. How am I suppose to tell everyone here? How am I suppose to tell Kai Liang and Bee Teng? What would be Khim Yik's and Qiu Ping's reactions? How would Ken and Michelle think of me? Could Chew Weng and Li Chi understand what I am going through? Of what impression would Billy and Yuan Xin have on me? Could we all be as close as we are now or closer? NO! I don't think so... If I were to reveal my P-life, then it would be a disaster. Kai Liang, Khim Yik, Ken, Chew Weng and Billy would move far far away from me... Bee Teng, Qiu Ping, Michelle, Li Chi and Yuan Xin would keep their distances from me... All will treat me different. Is it worth to take the risk? People are leaving my circle of love... slowly...

阿嬷不识字
但是伊识真多的代志
伊讲闪电是天的锁匙
锁匙打开有雨水
阿嬷不识字
但是有一张情批写乎伊
经过几十年不曾拆过
她讲写字不如相思
我爱的伊 欲来离开
伊讲孤单尚适合伊
无留半字 就断了过去
不甘心付出 为伊哮归暝
我爱的伊 欲来离开
伊讲孤单尚适合伊
山盟海誓 也失去意义
情批拢无字 痴心变青眠
我甲阿嬷问
阿嬷的情批是写啥咪
伊讲情人欲爱无勇气
才来用字骗情意