1

Just Chat! / They're made out of meat!

« on: 11/11/2005 12:32:11 »

Anyone who has never read this really should:

http://www.terrybisson.com/meat.html



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2

Just Chat! / Hi I'm back

« on: 27/08/2005 06:28:16 »

Did you all miss me?  


Sorry I've been shirking in my know-it-all duties.  I'm back and stuff.

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3

Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Preformation Theory?

« on: 28/01/2004 06:01:15 »

Does anyone know who first proposed the preformation theory of genetics?  You know, the one where they claimed a homunculus (a miniature dude) lived in each sperm and/or egg cell, and that was what grew into offspring?  

We were discussing the history of genetics in (surprise) my genetics class and each of the incorrect prior theories had info about who started it except for that one.  



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4

Physiology & Medicine / question about chronic muscle pain and fatigue

« on: 07/02/2005 12:05:37 »

This is more for Chris but anyone who's had experience with this please chime in:

My girlfriend, as some of you may know, has been plagued with various health problems throughout her life.  In the last 18 months she's been diagnosed with type I diabetes (her pancreas islet cells just up and croaked one week after a cortisone shot for joint pain) and thyroid cancer. (thyorid removed surgically along with 2 of her parathyroids)   Prior to that, she had a bout of idiopathic pulmonary hemocittorosis, essentially nonspecific hemmoraging of the lungs.  Prior to that, she had an ovarian cyst and a colon tumor the size of a softball removed...nice old-people diseases for a 24 year old girl.  

Anyway, she's had recurrant joint and muscle pain come and go since I've known her but the last two weeks it's been REALLY bad.  She can barely stand up for more than 10 minutes, is extremely weak and fatigued,  and is in excruciating pain most of the day.  Her doctor tested her for everything he could think of and nothing has come up positive except for a test that measures general non-cardiac inflammation, which was higher than normal.  She's been tested for almost every autoimmune disorder they can think of as it's common for hemocitorrosis survivors to develop them later in life but so far she's tested negative for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and a couple other things I'm forgetting.  This is in conjunction with very uncontrolled blood glucose levels.  She's on well over 100 units of insulin a day along with metformin (glucophage) and still frequently experiences blood glucose levels in the 300-400 range.  These appear to have little relation to what she eats...she can eat a piece of cake and a bunch of other crap one day and not go above 150 then two days later eat nothing but whole grains and meat (and small quantities at that) and end up at almost 500.  I do not know if the two are related, but these are the main problems at the moment.  

What I'm wondering is what should be her next step in who she sees?  She has an endocrinologist who only sees her once every 90 days, won't address any problem other than diabetes,  and even forgets that she's  Type I diabetic when he DOES see her, so he's pretty much useless.  Her internist just prescribed her a huge bottle of Vicodin because he couldn't figure out why she's in pain.  Who should she see next?  What kind of specialist could focus on the chronic muscle pain / fatigue she's experiencing?  We're not really sure where else to start looking so hopefully someone in the medical field can offer some advice.

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5

Just Chat! / Gmail invites.

« on: 28/10/2004 22:26:37 »

I have 6 gmail invites if anyone wants one.  For those that don't know, it's an online email service through google that offers 1 GB of storage, free.  

Drop me an email through my profile if ya want one.


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6

Physiology & Medicine / TCA cycles and energy sources

« on: 01/11/2004 11:52:05 »

Studying the TCA cycle got me thinking about something...

Any intermediate in the TCA cycle can be taken into the cycle and used to generate ATP, GTP, electrons for electron transport, and all that good stuff we need to live.  Why can't we just eat, say, a crapload of citric acid and live off of that?  Glycolysis is inefficient anyway, it's just way to break the goo we normally eat down into nice bits of pyruvate for the REAL energy production, right?  What would be be the ramifications of bypassing it entirely and just eating TCA intermediates?



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7

Just Chat! / office gag

« on: 28/10/2004 22:29:40 »

Don't do this to anyone you really like.  If someone has speakers on their work computer, send this link to them.  Watch them scramble to turn them off.  

http://www2.b3ta.com/top-10-cutest-kittens/

Don't click the link if you're easily offended, etc, etc.

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8

Complementary Medicine / Validity of biofeedback

« on: 23/10/2004 02:20:40 »

Anyone had any experience with nuerobiofeedback?  I've been thinking of it as an alternative to the pharmaceuticals my doc wants to shove down my throat to deal with the anxiety/attention problems I've been having.  I don't know much about it other than it's a way to conscously develop the ability to assume the brainwave patterns common to meditative states...

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9

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / membrane transport question

« on: 08/10/2004 23:02:53 »

So I'm studying protein transport in my cell biology class and I came across something that's puzzling me.  

Membrane and secreted proteins are transported to the Golgi via vesicles that bud from the rough ER.  The transport is mediated by v-SNARE proteins on the ER that bind to t-SNARE proteins on the Golgi, allowing the vesicle to fuse with the Golgi phospholipid membrane.  Any membrane proteins on the vesicle are integrated into the Golgi membrane.  So my question is, how did the t-SNARE proteins originally become integrated into the Golgi membrane?  My guess is that the Golgi forms from the ER during cell development, integrating necessary t-SNARE and Rab proteins, but I'm not sure.  



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10

Physiology & Medicine / Benzodiazepine withdrawal

« on: 19/09/2004 20:04:45 »

So I decided it was about time to take myself off of Klonopin and let me tell ya, it's awful.  I was on a really low dose to start with so I didn't think it would be a big deal.  (1/4 of a 0.5 mg tablet per day)  But damn, it's bad.  I'm on day 3 now and I constantly feel like I just drank a pot of coffee and stayed up all night.  I'm ataxic, have a mild gait disturbance, and my muscles ache.  This really blows.  

So anyway, I'm not here to whine, I just want to know if anyone's gone through benzo withdrawal before (or knows someone who has) and how long I should expect to be like this for the low dose I was on.  If this is going to take several weeks, I don't know if I can do it, I'm in the middle of the semester.  [B)]

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11

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Fermi Condensates and room-temp superconductors

« on: 11/09/2004 03:35:28 »

So I was reading this month's Scientific American and saw that the first Fermi condensates have been made using K-40 atoms at a startlingly low 0.5x10^-9 K temperature.  

In the article, it's mentioned that this breakthrough will help advance high-temperature (ie room temp) superconductors.  My understanding of quantum physics stops after the 2nd semester of physical chemistry, so I don't really understand the connection between the two.  Making a condensate out of fermions at near-absolute-zero temperatures doesn't seem like it has much to do with superconductors.  I would venture a guess that having a material with all its atoms in the same quantum state has something to do with it, but Bose-Einstein and Fermi condensates only exist (so far) at super low temps.  What am I missing here?

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12

Physiology & Medicine / Parathyroid function

« on: 26/06/2004 03:44:02 »

Question for the docs:

So the girlfriend had her thyroidectomy yesterday and the surgeon ended up removing her lower 2 parathyroid glands as well.  (he said they were inexorably stuck to the thyroid)  She'll be on medication to make up for the thyroid hormone deficiency, but what can she do to keep her calcium levels regulated?  Also, what other long-term effects can she expect from lacking a full set of parathyroid glands other than dysfunction in calcium regulation?  How can she avoid these effects?



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13

Physiology & Medicine / RNA from harsh environments

« on: 18/06/2004 04:04:34 »

So my project for this summer is to try and recover RNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded prostate tissue.  A quick summary of the paper is that the various HOXC genes are expressed in healthy cells surrounding cancerous prostate cells but not in any cell in a prostate unaffected by cancer.  Since there are multiple HOXC genes and there is no decent antibody to distinguish between them, we are relgated to using RNA.  (which we reverse transcribe and then run through PCR)  

So, my question is, do any of you have experience with recovering RNA from tissue that has been fixed with formalin and embedded in paraffin.  (a common histological technique)  We need to increase our number of cases and this is the only realistic way.  I've read protocols from people who have managed to do with with breast cancer cells and bladder cells, but not specifically prostate.  Any words of advice from you researchy types?



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14

Physiology & Medicine / Upper GI scope

« on: 27/05/2004 08:50:35 »

I have to go get an upper GI endoscopy done soon.  What should I expect?  I'm not too keen on the idea of a long tube stuck down my gullet, but I'm sure there are some good drugs involved.  

Stupid acid reflux.  [xx(]



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15

Physiology & Medicine / MCAT exams

« on: 20/04/2004 07:22:04 »

Well, I just took the MCAT (Medical College Aptitude Test) this weekend.  Everyone wish me luck on my scoring.  It gets to hang around my neck like an albatross for 60 days while they score it.  [V]

I wouldn't wish that test on my worst enemy.  Do they have an equivalent test for admission to medical school in the UK?  Or anywhere else for that matter?



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16

Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Quantum physics quotes

« on: 15/11/2003 09:42:52 »

I ran across a few quotes by some famous dead people (and some not-so-famous and not-so-dead ones).  Some of these are quite commonly heard, but several are new to me and possibly to you, too.  

"I do not like it, and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it."
-Erwin Schrödinger, speaking of quantum mechanics

"Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum mechanics cannot possibly have understood it."
-Niels Bohr

"God does not play dice with the cosmos."
-Albert Einstein

"Einstein, don't tell God what to do."
-Niels Bohr in response to Einstein

"I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics."
-Richard Feynman

"If that turns out to be true, I'll quit physics."
-Max Von Laue, Nobel Laureate 1914, of de Broglie's thesis on electrons having wave properties.



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17

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Superflu?

« on: 09/03/2004 16:12:57 »

So I keep hearing that the Center for Disease Control is freaking out about the possible spread of a new strain of flu that's supposedly as virulent and nasty as the one in the 1920's that kill millions of people.  Has anyone heard of this?  Should I start buying surgical masks?  []

Ralph Nader talked about it last time I saw him on TV and it was mentioned in one of my classes.



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18

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / How are bacteriophages used as antibiotics, to kill bacteria?

« on: 04/03/2004 02:30:32 »

In honor of the new category, does anyone know a good literature source for research on the use of bacteriophagic viruses in antibiotic treatment?  I'm giving a presentation in a few weeks for a class and I want to use that topic.  


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19

Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Pasteur was lucky, so was Mendel, a puzzle for you

« on: 17/02/2004 22:27:46 »

Pasteur and Mendel, two great scientists that were foundations of advancement in their respective fields.

Both of them were skilled and insightful.  Both of them got lucky.  Anyone want to venture guesses why?



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20

Chemistry / Online source for chemical literature values

« on: 06/12/2003 15:41:45 »

Do any of you know of a good (and free, preferably) place where chemical and physical data is archived?  Something like the CRC Handbook, but online and free.  I did find the NIST Chemistry Webbook, but it doesn't have the information I'm looking for.  (molar heat of vaporization and molar entropy of vaporization for water at conditions OTHER than standard)



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