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Abbacus
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Country: United States
State: Ohio
Birthday: 2/13/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: Crafting, dancing, napping, being a dork, sarcasm, reading, wandering aimlessly, procrastinating, indulging in neurotic habits
Expertise: after years and year and years of science school, i hope to one day be an expert in something. check back in years and years and years
Occupation: Student
Industry: Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/7/2003
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| Pictures of new apartment, the pets, and a bonus picture of my trip to the cleveland zoo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbymarie/
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| Science+politicsHere's a cool study: a 20 year observational (ie-researchers wouldn't
be trying to test the effects of a specifc treatment, just watching and
looking for trends) study of 100,000 kids across the American
population, starting before birth. As Nature Medicine explains:
The study is intended to track the effects of different environmental
factors--from chemical exposures to parental nurturing styles and
television viewing--from the womb through adulthood. The vast database
would then help researchers fathom the causes of birth defects, autism,
diabetes and a host of other childhood disorders. The data would be
made freely available to researchers.
This study is cool for a couple of reasons-first, like they said, this
will provide a wealth of information about what it takes to keep kids
healthy, and the things that are neccesary in childhood to produce a
healthy adult. This will lead to better treatments for diseases and
more informed preventative care for kids. Another reason it's cool is
that it will provide basic scientists(like me) with lots of new leads
to look at while we investigate the basis of diseases. For example: I
study mood disorders, and this sort of data would be a huge advantage
to my field. Say the study shows that kids with a high exposure to
chemical X before age two are much more likely to exhibit bipolar
disorder as teenagers. We can't say chemical X causes bipolar disorder,
and it may be that chemical X is something that some kids just can't
avoid. What we can get from that correlation, however, is a clue.
We can start to look at what chemical X does to the brain as it
develops by exposing mice to it in utero, we
can dump it on cells to see how it affects processes like secretion or
energy production or on brain slices to see how it affects how neurons
communicate to one and other. Knowing that this chemical is
linked to a mental illness and knowing what it does to the function of
the brain from cellular to synaptic to systemic levels will give us an
idea about wht the substrates of mental illness are, what it is exactly
that goes awry and what good targets are for better treatments.
The final cool thing about this study: it isn't going to happen. After
six years of everyone from basic science geeks to child welfare
advocates wetting themselves in anticipation of such a groundbreaking
study, it was set to start enrolling late this year/early next year
(such a huge effort takes A LOT of planning). But, alas, our fair
president, He-Who-Loves-Each-Snowflake-of-a-child, axed the study by
ordering the shut down the National Institute of Childhood Health and
Human Development in his 2007 budget request. (this shutdown includes a
900-woman pilot study already underway, this makes the effort of the
planners, physicians, scientists and the women and children involved in
the study a Gigantic Waste of Time and Money) So in addition to
once again spitting in the face of scientists, Bush is really setting
back research that could really improve the lives of the children he
claims to care so much about.
This is yet another reason why scientists don't like him.
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| nothing and a poemI accidently found pictures today of kids in Isreal and Lebanon,
terrible pictures, collateral damage of the fighting, and for whatever
reason, it is just too much.
After fighting tears and nausea all day, I tried to write something
meaningful about how knowing too much about what goes on in the rest of
the world can lead to such sadness, almost grief. How what
happens happens and looking away won't stop it, how someone has to
know, how it is wrong to turn away because it isn't our children being
set on fire by bombs, it is not our baby who was shot in the head. But
I can't, really, I can't understand how anyone gets to the point where
maiming and killing children is acceptable collateral damage. Maybe
sometimes it has to happen, but how can anyone get to the point where
it doesn't cause outrage, where it doesn't cause cries for peace, cries
to realize that your enemy's child does not have to be your
enemy. I've always tried to understand events and motivations and
peoples. But I can't. I can't even coherently explain why not.
In substitute, another of my beloved polish poets, Adam Zagajewski. He is at least coherent.
Try to Praise the Mutilated World
Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June's long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You've seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you've heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth's scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the grey feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.
Translated by Renata Gorczynski
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| Been a while...Lots going on. Work is busy busy busy, moved to a new apt which is
great, am cat sitting for a terribly deficient cat. Went to Ohio and
came back all in 72 hours. Fun but draining. Going to the beach in
August, which will be a welcome welcome break. It is wretchedly
hot here, and dry. It stormed today though and was great.
I've been resident of this state for 1 year as of today. Weird,
huh. My sister says I'm starting to get an accent, but my friends
here laugh at that and make fun of my midwestern accent. So I think my
sister is, as usual, a lying ho.
To celebrate my year here, ways in which Alabama is a Neat Place:
1. We currently have the Worst Drought In the History of All
Mankind. As such, the water board has moved to stage two of its
drought management plan which is to ask us to voluntarily reduce our
water use. Stage one was to consider our water use. Yeah. neat.
2. We had an election run off between Luther Strange whose only
accomplishment seems to be achieving a splendid height of six foot
eight inches and George Wallace Jr, who is the son of a famous bigot.
The tall guy won and, I kid you not, has already started referring to
his general election opponent as "little Jim". Apparantly we're
very impressed by tall people here
3. We have had a string of weeks with air quality alerts. This means
that we're not supposed to go outside, and if we do, we aren't supposed
to breath. That is serious. The news people said "avoid outdoor
breathing". To help the situation, the city runs extra bus loops
you can ride for a quarter, so theoretically if you had to say, walk
four blocks to your parking lot you are supposed to ride the bus. Of
course by "helping the situation" I mean "further polluting the air"
because the busses run on diesel. Great.
4. My building won't have air conditioning for chunks of august. Not
only does this mean that I will have to swelter in long pants and a lab
coat on the tenth floor of an unventilated building in 100 degree heat,
but also that my mice have to go live in anoather building so I will
have to trek across campus (ok, three blocks down the street), treat
the mice, then trek back to my personal hell hole office. All the
while looking like a crazy lady pushing a cart with surgical
instruments, a balance and a box of needles. Fun.
In things that are actually cool, UAB got one of three (three!)
Neuroscience Blueprint grants form the NIH, which means that while many
other universities around the country are struggling to maintain their
research programs in this era of 8% pay lines (8% of all grant apps are
funded. Again...neat.), UAB will actually be able to grow and improve
it's program. This will be good because by the time i graduate it will
be considered one of the top neuro schools in the country and people
will be impressed I went there and want to have me as a postdoc and pay
me lots of money.
I may write something of substance soon. But don't hold your breath.
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| For sale: catTime I went to bed: 11:30
Time I went to sleep: 3 AM
Time the cat perched on my pillow and leaned over my face to meow and
inform me that the sun was up so can we cuddle now?: 5:15 AM
Time my neighbors turned up the rap music so I could feel it shaking the walls: 6 AM
Time I gave up and got out of bed 7 AM
ugh
ps: This is fun | | |
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