Hello. I am a college student studying in BS Medical Technology. Right now, I am busy with my thesis, "Effects of the over-anticoagulated blood based on amylase and acid phosphatase determination". One of my objectives will be finding the degree of error. This will be based on the values obtained from the tests of a normal amount anticoagulated blood and an over anticoagulated blood. But I am hardly good at statistical computation. Will you suggest a formula to get me by this problem?

We had a lot of fun tonight. We drove to Middle-of-Nowhere, North Dakota, to have a wild and crazy time with my husband's extended family. There were a lot of fireworks and even more food.

We also encountered a big surprise. I wish I'd brought the camera with. On the eastern horizon was we were driving out to M-o-N, we saw windmills. Not just two or three...a ton. I counted up to nearly fifty before giving up, and I'm fairly certain that was less than half. Even cooler was driving back home. All of them had red lights on the top. They were blinking on and off in synchronicity.

Last year, none of them were there. It was a pretty awesome sight. If the moon hadn't been out, I'm sure the stars would have been incredible, too.

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
A DECLARATION
By the REPRESENTATIVES of the
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
In GENERAL CONGRESS assembled.

WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the Present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People; unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule in these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Powers to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress,
JOHN HANCOCK, President.
Attest.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

World Wide Web? Can't we just put it on the American part?



(Thanks to astra_nomer. BTW, because of you, I'm now spending all my time watching muppets videos on YouTube.)

Hey everyone =)

So, my academic institution of choice has a "free things!" area, where labs can put old equipment/etc and it essentially becomes fair game for anyone to take. Usually it's junk, but today when I walked by there were a bunch of empty tip boxes - Sorenson Multiguard Barrier Tips, to be exact. Catalog #15020T. The boxes are a slightly greyish blue with a clear lid

My lab buys tips in bulk in huge bags, and we then manually put the tips into boxes, autoclave, and voila (Exceptions to this include RNA work, but for day to day lab stuff, this is how it goes). Seeing as each person is responsible for their own tips, and being the newest person in the lab, I have the shittiest (and fewest) tip boxes. So I scooped up a bunch, figuring I would try them out next week to make sure the tips we order fit properly and come out easily, and then I'd be set.

Of course I was also planning to check that they were autoclavable. There's no information about it on the Sorenson website (http://www.sorbio.com) but I'm assuming they wouldn't be advertising it because they'd rather you buy an entire new box of tips. I've emailed the tech support, but no response yet, so I'm hoping someone here has personal experience?

And, to have a discussion going, how does your lab buy tips? Pre-racked? Already racked and in boxes? Or do you buy them in big bags? My old lab had a guy come in once a week to rack/autoclave tips, and it was sort of a communal stash we had going on, but here everyone is responsible for their own. We're switching to pre-racked for our P200 tips, but only because we're getting a deal where it works out cheaper than buying in bulk - everything comes down to the final $... we even do plasmid preps the old-school way without a kit.

A lot of friends coming back into my life lately.

The first time facebook advertising has ever worked on me:

http://basejewellery.com/

Men's rings in titanium, zirconia ceramic and tungsten carbide. :)

I'm going to get a tungsten carbide one. Our drill bits are made of the stuff - so it drills through solid rock.



I would totally get that as a wedding ring. If I had somebody to marry.

My advisor, earlier this year, suggested that I look into some classes being offered this summer on super-computing. The classes are set up so that you attend from one of several places. They are live-streamed, so this can make it easier for students to attend as they don't have one and only one place where they have to go.

I, however, could not go to any of the planned locations. My advisor told me to send in an application. This seemed odd, as supposedly I would not be attending one of the locations but would watch over the web. I emailed someone from the group who was offering classes, and they seemed to indicate I should apply. So I did.

I was accepted, but my acceptance letter said I would be attending at one of the participating campuses. I got a letter recently asking if I was coming. I said I had intended to join in the classes remotely, not at the location specified. Then they told me I didn't need to apply if I was going to do that.

*shakes head*

At least, however, I know what's supposed to be going on now. I hope.

Today (or, I guess yesterday now) was really odd.

Both Mike and I were supposed to take laser safety training this morning. It's not that either of us uses a laser, but there are some used in various labs around the building where we work. Unfortunately, we didn't realize until last night that the daycare would be closed today. After scrambling to find someone to watch the kiddo, my mom finally said he could come to her work and watch movies. It was a hustle to get him there and to work, but I managed to get in about five minutes after the training started.

At this point, I found out that Mike apparently did NOT need the training. It wasn't a refresher, and despite the threat of cancelling access to the labs, he apparently didn't need to retake it since he already had it once.

Wonderful. So we went through all the panic for nothing.

The afternoon was really enjoyable. I took the younger one and we stocked up on fireworks and shopped at Target. He had some money to burn from his birthday, so he bought a Transformer toy. After that, we went over to one of his friends. He swam while I chatted with the friends' mom.

After dinner, we had a huge scare. Macrocat came out and cried about ten horrible, wailing yowls. Then he collapsed onto the floor and started panting and drooling.

I've never seen a cat do that. We bundled him into a towel and drove down to the emergency animal hospital. While the doc was checking him, she touched his abdomen and he cried and then hissed at her.

I have never seen this cat hiss. Ever. Even when giving him a bath, which he hates.

Turns out he had an incredibly horrible bladder infection. It is also apparently resistant to amoxicillin because he's been on that the last week or so because of his teeth. Anyway, his white blood cell count was huge, he had blood in his urine, and the pH was 7 (too high for a cat...should've been six) with crystals starting to precipitate out. He's on another antibiotic and will need a recheck when he's done with that. Also has some pain meds.

I'm getting very worried about him. The doc asked if he'd been tested for feline leukemia. I'm fairly sure he is negative, but now I'm wondering. He was one when we got him, so the adoption agency should have checked. (They almost always do so that you don't put a cat who has it into a house with a cat that doesn't.) Also said we should check on FIV. Given his history with the teeth/sinus problem, conjunctivitis, and now this, she's suspicious there is something else wrong. I'll also feel horrible if it's something that Microcat can catch. Fortunately, FIV is much harder to transmit, but it still can be done.

I hope this is all a fluke. On the other hand, I can't help wondering if this maybe had something to do with our other cat's problems. I really don't want to lose any more of my fuzzy friends.

Meant to post this for Jasmine earlier, as she will appreciate it...



Random fact of the day: The Bayeux Tapestry is not actually a tapestry but an embroidery.

My institution doesn't get Theoretical Applied Genetics; can anyone who has access to it please email me this article:

El Mousadik A, Petit RJ (1996) Theor Appl Genet 92:832– 839

Thanks in advance!

daisieh at gmail dot com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8959243

Does anyone have access to this? I am doing a similiar study and like the idea of using dN-dS because I have about 3 cases where dS = 0 (intra host viral quasispecies) and dN/dS doesnt fly when dS=0..

janarock at gmail dot com

Thank you in advance!

I read this description of an Iranian detainee's experience in the Guardian today. (Warning, even though there are no visuals, the descriptions are graphic.)

What horrified me was how this brought another article to the forefront of my mind: one where they described "advanced interrogation techniques" as well as some of the events at Abu Ghraib.

It sounds horrible, but in a way, I expect to hear stories like this coming out of Iran. Iran's government has one of the worst possible records on human rights, and it is this sort of thing that the Iranian people are fighting against now.

However, I expect my country to set an example. I expect us to be role models. And here I am, reading a horrific account of something going on halfway across the globe, and all I can think is that we're no better.

I feel some letters to my elected officials coming on. I hope you do, too. I intend to revisit the issue of prosecution of those involved as well as the fact that we need to make sure this never happens again. I don't care what country these people are from. They are human beings, and we need to treat them as such. They deserve to see justice. And we need to own up to our mistakes rather than sweeping it under the rug.

So I'm an American undergrad doing a lab internship in Germany for the summer, and one thing that I think is really strange is that nearly 90% of the students who get a bachelors degree in the sciences--or at least in biology, chemistry, and biochemistry--get PhDs.  I guess there are a number of other factors that come into play--like the fact that you go to medical school straight out of high school so those students don't need a bachelors, and people go to college knowing that they want to study whatever it is they want to study (I definitely did not), but still.

I am interested in hearing what possibly could have created this landscape?

Is this an old eroded lava field? This is a field in northern California near Paynes Creek.