learning and yearning

learning: Animal Rights

2011-09-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the unmentioned week long hiatus from writing. I was super busy this week as school is kicking off again, and all the projects come rushing at me once again.

I am researching the justification, morality, and philosophic view of animal rights. I will be posting a collaboration of arguments for and against animal rights.

Thank you for reading!

learning: Obama's Speech

2011-09-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

GO U.S.A., right?
Obama delivered a phenomenal speech on Thursday, 8 Sept. 2011:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and fellow Americans: Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country. We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that has made things worse. This past week, reporters have been asking “What will this speech mean for the President? What will it mean for Congress? How will it affect their polls, and the next election?”But the millions of Americans who are watching right now: they don’t care about politics. They have real life concerns. Many have spent months looking for work. Others are doing their best just to scrape by – giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; postponing retirement to send a kid to college. These men and women grew up with faith in an America where hard work and responsibility paid off. They believed in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share – where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits; maybe a raise once in awhile. If you did the right thing, you could make it in America. But for decades now, Americans have watched that compact erode. They have seen the deck too often stacked against them. And they know that Washington hasn’t always put their interests first. The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning. Those of us here tonight can’t solve all of our nation’s woes. Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives. I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything. The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away. Everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin. And you know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, smaller companies haven’t. So for everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for “job creators,” this plan is for you. Pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or raise workers’ wages. Pass this jobs bill, and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. If you have 50 employees making an average salary, that’s an $80,000 tax cut. And all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012. It’s not just Democrats who have supported this kind of proposal. Fifty House Republicans have proposed the same payroll tax cut that’s in this plan. You should pass it right away. Pass this jobs bill, and we can put people to work rebuilding America. Everyone here knows that we have badly decaying roads and bridges all over this country. Our highways are clogged with traffic. Our skies are the most congested in the world. This is inexcusable. Building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an economic superpower. And now we’re going to sit back and watch China build newer airports and faster railroads? At a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right here in America? There are private construction companies all across America just waiting to get to work. There’s a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that’s on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America. A public transit project in Houston that will help clear up one of the worst areas of traffic in the country. And there are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school – and we can give it to them, if we act now. The American Jobs Act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools. It will put people to work right now fixing roofs and windows; installing science labs and high-speed internet in classrooms all across this country. It will rehabilitate homes and businesses in communities hit hardest by foreclosures. It will jumpstart thousands of transportation projects across the country. And to make sure the money is properly spent and for good purposes, we’re building on reforms we’ve already put in place. No more earmarks. No more boondoggles. No more bridges to nowhere. We’re cutting the red tape that prevents some of these projects from getting started as quickly as possible. And we’ll set up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue loans based on two criteria: how badly a construction project is needed and how much good it would do for the economy. This idea came from a bill written by a Texas Republican and a Massachusetts Democrat. The idea for a big boost in construction is supported by America’s largest business organization and America’s largest labor organization. It’s the kind of proposal that’s been supported in the past by Democrats and Republicans alike. You should pass it right away. Pass this jobs bill, and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. These are the men and women charged with preparing our children for a world where the competition has never been tougher. But while they’re adding teachers in places like South Korea, we’re laying them off in droves. It’s unfair to our kids. It undermines their future and ours. And it has to stop. Pass this jobs bill, and put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong. Pass this jobs bill, and companies will get extra tax credits if they hire America’s veterans. We ask these men and women to leave their careers, leave their families, and risk their lives to fight for our country. The last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home.Pass this bill, and hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people will have the hope and dignity of a summer job next year. And their parents, low-income Americans who desperately want to work, will have more ladders out of poverty. Pass this jobs bill, and companies will get a $4,000 tax credit if they hire anyone who has spent more than six months looking for a job. We have to do more to help the long-term unemployed in their search for work. This jobs plan builds on a program in Georgia that several Republican leaders have highlighted, where people who collect unemployment insurance participate in temporary work as a way to build their skills while they look for a permanent job. The plan also extends unemployment insurance for another year. If the millions of unemployed Americans stopped getting this insurance, and stopped using that money for basic necessities, it would be a devastating blow to this economy. Democrats and Republicans in this Chamber have supported unemployment insurance plenty of times in the past. At this time of prolonged hardship, you should pass it again – right away. Pass this jobs bill, and the typical working family will get a fifteen hundred dollar tax cut next year. Fifteen hundred dollars that would have been taken out of your paycheck will go right into your pocket. This expands on the tax cut that Democrats and Republicans already passed for this year. If we allow that tax cut to expire – if we refuse to act – middle-class families will get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time. We cannot let that happen. I know some of you have sworn oaths to never raise any taxes on anyone for as long as you live. Now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise middle-class taxes, which is why you should pass this bill right away. This is the American Jobs Act. It will lead to new jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans, first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed. It will provide tax credits to companies that hire new workers, tax relief for small business owners, and tax cuts for the middle-class. And here’s the other thing I want the American people to know: the American Jobs Act will not add to the deficit. It will be paid for. And here’s how:The agreement we passed in July will cut government spending by about $1 trillion over the next ten years. It also charges this Congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. Tonight, I’m asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the American Jobs Act. And a week from Monday, I’ll be releasing a more ambitious deficit plan – a plan that will not only cover the cost of this jobs bill, but stabilize our debt in the long run. This approach is basically the one I’ve been advocating for months. In addition to the trillion dollars of spending cuts I’ve already signed into law, it’s a balanced plan that would reduce the deficit by making additional spending cuts; by making modest adjustments to health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid; and by reforming our tax code in a way that asks the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. What’s more, the spending cuts wouldn’t happen so abruptly that they’d be a drag on our economy, or prevent us from helping small business and middle-class families get back on their feet right away. Now, I realize there are some in my party who don’t think we should make any changes at all to Medicare and Medicaid, and I understand their concerns. But here’s the truth. Millions of Americans rely on Medicare in their retirement. And millions more will do so in the future. They pay for this benefit during their working years. They earn it. But with an aging population and rising health care costs, we are spending too fast to sustain the program. And if we don’t gradually reform the system while protecting current beneficiaries, it won’t be there when future retirees need it. We have to reform Medicare to strengthen it. I’m also well aware that there are many Republicans who don’t believe we should raise taxes on those who are most fortunate and can best afford it. But here is what every American knows. While most people in this country struggle to make ends meet, a few of the most affluent citizens and corporations enjoy tax breaks and loopholes that nobody else gets. Right now, Warren Buffet pays a lower tax rate than his secretary – an outrage he has asked us to fix. We need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake, and everybody pays their fair share. And I believe the vast majority of wealthy Americans and CEOs are willing to do just that, if it helps the economy grow and gets our fiscal house in order. I’ll also offer ideas to reform a corporate tax code that stands as a monument to special interest influence in Washington. By eliminating pages of loopholes and deductions, we can lower one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Our tax code shouldn’t give an advantage to companies that can afford the best-connected lobbyists. It should give an advantage to companies that invest and create jobs here in America. So we can reduce this deficit, pay down our debt, and pay for this jobs plan in the process. But in order to do this, we have to decide what our priorities are. We have to ask ourselves, “What’s the best way to grow the economy and create jobs?”Should we keep tax loopholes for oil companies? Or should we use that money to give small business owners a tax credit when they hire new workers? Because we can’t afford to do both. Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires? Or should we put teachers back to work so our kids can graduate ready for college and good jobs? Right now, we can’t afford to do both. This isn’t political grandstanding. This isn’t class warfare. This is simple math. These are real choices that we have to make. And I’m pretty sure I know what most Americans would choose. It’s not even close. And it’s time for us to do what’s right for our future. The American Jobs Act answers the urgent need to create jobs right away. But we can’t stop there. As I’ve argued since I ran for this office, we have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start building an economy that lasts into the future – an economy that creates good, middle-class jobs that pay well and offer security. We now live in a world where technology has made it possible for companies to take their business anywhere. If we want them to start here and stay here and hire here, we have to be able to out-build, out-educate, and out-innovate every other country on Earth. This task, of making America more competitive for the long haul, is a job for all of us. For government and for private companies. For states and for local communities – and for every American citizen. All of us will have to up our game. All of us will have to change the way we do business. My administration can and will take some steps to improve our competitiveness on our own. For example, if you’re a small business owner who has a contract with the federal government, we’re going to make sure you get paid a lot faster than you do now. We’re also planning to cut away the red tape that prevents too many rapidly-growing start-up companies from raising capital and going public. And to help responsible homeowners, we’re going to work with Federal housing agencies to help more people refinance their mortgages at interest rates that are now near 4% -- a step that can put more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket, and give a lift to an economy still burdened by the drop in housing prices. Other steps will require Congressional action. Today you passed reform that will speed up the outdated patent process, so that entrepreneurs can turn a new idea into a new business as quickly as possible. That’s the kind of action we need. Now it’s time to clear the way for a series of trade agreements that would make it easier for American companies to sell their products in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea – while also helping the workers whose jobs have been affected by global competition. If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. I want to see more products sold around the world stamped with three proud words: “Made in America.” And on all of our efforts to strengthen competitiveness, we need to look for ways to work side-by-side with America’s businesses. That’s why I’ve brought together a Jobs Council of leaders from different industries who are developing a wide range of new ideas to help companies grow and create jobs. Already, we’ve mobilized business leaders to train 10,000 American engineers a year, by providing company internships and training. Other businesses are covering tuition for workers who learn new skills at community colleges. And we’re going to make sure the next generation of manufacturing takes root not in China or Europe, but right here, in the United States of America. If we provide the right incentives and support – and if we make sure our trading partners play by the rules – we can be the ones to build everything from fuel-efficient cars to advanced biofuels to semiconductors that are sold all over the world. That’s how America can be number one again. That’s how America will be number one again. Now, I realize that some of you have a different theory on how to grow the economy. Some of you sincerely believe that the only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most government spending and eliminate most government regulations. Well, I agree that we can’t afford wasteful spending, and I will continue to work with Congress to get rid of it. And I agree that there are some rules and regulations that put an unnecessary burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it. That’s why I ordered a review of all government regulations. So far, we’ve identified over 500 reforms, which will save billions of dollars over the next few years. We should have no more regulation than the health, safety, and security of the American people require. Every rule should meet that common sense test. But what we can’t do – what I won’t do – is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades. I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety. I reject the argument that says for the economy to grow, we have to roll back protections that ban hidden fees by credit card companies, or rules that keep our kids from being exposed to mercury, or laws that prevent the health insurance industry from shortchanging patients. I reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy. We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom, where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollution standards. America should be in a race to the top. And I believe that’s a race we can win. In fact, this larger notion that the only thing we can do to restore prosperity is just dismantle government, refund everyone’s money, let everyone write their own rules, and tell everyone they’re on their own – that’s not who we are. That’s not the story of America. Yes, we are rugged individualists. Yes, we are strong and self-reliant. And it has been the drive and initiative of our workers and entrepreneurs that has made this economy the engine and envy of the world.But there has always been another thread running throughout our history – a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation.We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union. But in the middle of a Civil War, he was also a leader who looked to the future – a Republican president who mobilized government to build the transcontinental railroad; launch the National Academy of Sciences; and set up the first land grant colleges. And leaders of both parties have followed the example he set. Ask yourselves – where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways and our bridges; our dams and our airports? What would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on public high schools, or research universities, or community colleges? Millions of returning heroes, including my grandfather, had the opportunity to go to school because of the GI Bill. Where would we be if they hadn’t had that chance? How many jobs would it have cost us if past Congresses decided not to support the basic research that led to the Internet and the computer chip? What kind of country would this be if this Chamber had voted down Social Security or Medicare just because it violated some rigid idea about what government could or could not do? How many Americans would have suffered as a result? No single individual built America on their own. We built it together. We have been, and always will be, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all; a nation with responsibilities to ourselves and with responsibilities to one another. Members of Congress, it is time for us to meet our responsibilities. Every proposal I’ve laid out tonight is the kind that’s been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past. Every proposal I’ve laid out tonight will be paid for. And every proposal is designed to meet the urgent needs of our people and our communities. I know there’s been a lot of skepticism about whether the politics of the moment will allow us to pass this jobs plan – or any jobs plan. Already, we’re seeing the same old press releases and tweets flying back and forth. Already, the media has proclaimed that it’s impossible to bridge our differences. And maybe some of you have decided that those differences are so great that we can only resolve them at the ballot box. But know this: the next election is fourteen months away. And the people who sent us here – the people who hired us to work for them – they don’t have the luxury of waiting fourteen months. Some of them are living week to week; paycheck to paycheck; even day to day. They need help, and they need it now. I don’t pretend that this plan will solve all our problems. It shouldn’t be, nor will it be, the last plan of action we propose. What’s guided us from the start of this crisis hasn’t been the search for a silver bullet. It’s been a commitment to stay at it – to be persistent – to keep trying every new idea that works, and listen to every good proposal, no matter which party comes up with it. Regardless of the arguments we’ve had in the past, regardless of the arguments we’ll have in the future, this plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of this country. I also ask every American who agrees to lift your voice and tell the people who are gathered here tonight that you want action now. Tell Washington that doing nothing is not an option. Remind us that if we act as one nation, and one people, we have it within our power to meet this challenge.President Kennedy once said, “Our problems are man-made – therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.”These are difficult years for our country. But we are Americans. We are tougher than the times that we live in, and we are bigger than our politics have been. So let’s meet the moment. Let’s get to work, and show the world once again why the United States of America remains the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Although I am not involved in politics as much as I should be, I believe Obama's play on this event was brilliant. Obviously, Obama is trying to win the American people through this. If the economy goes even more haywire due to the rejection of the bill, then the republican party will soak the blame. If the bill does pass, and it works as Obama theorized, then Obama will receive much of the credit, and most likely win another term in his office. Just my $0.02. Haven't thought much of it, and, like I said, I'm not very involved in the political world.

yearning: Gattaca & Blade Runner

2011-09-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

Wow. Wow....

Just ," W-O-W!"

I watched both of these movies with my brother the other night. I have a confession to make: I have a strange fetish for these sci-fi philosophical films.

Both of these movies have brilliant twists at the end that lead you to think about the film forever. My idea of the excellence behind Gattaca, though, is much different from the brilliance of Blade Runner. Gattaca's setting was very different from the typical futuristic vision that was made by movies en masse. The themes are also very easy to relate to. Vincent's passion for space and burning desire to join the Gattaca space program leads his character to develop through different conflicts. Vincent rises through the ranks of the program, but he is known as Jerome, a one-time Olympic swimmer. Throughout the movie, messages of inspiration are shot at the audience. In Blade Runner, Deckard, retired android hunter, is sent on a final mission. Throughout the movie, the shots are made in cloudy and mysterious and futuristic areas. The whole movie is very dark and gloomy. The movie's plot line moves so slowly, that, in fact, the movie should be renamed Blade Crawler. The ending twist is both emotionally powerful and thought provoking.

Have you seen these movies? If so, what did you think about them? Do you think Deckard is an android or human?

If not, what type of movies do you enjoy? Fill us in with some examples too!

Yearning: Goals

2011-08-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

IMAGE CREDIT: Matthias Weinberger
TOPIC INFLUENCE
Goals. We all have goals. As children, we have all said to ourselves, " This is what I want, and I'm going to get it." Even if sometimes it meant doing the ridiculous or trying for the impossible, we still had those goals. I'm going to share with you all some tips I've found that help us achieve anything.

1. Fast forward in time a few years: Visualize process, NOT outcome
-Visualizing the process of achieving our dream will help keep us in line and aware of the needed steps.

2. Forget the goal. What's the point?
-No, not literally forget the goal. Goals should be made to guide us in the general direction of what we want our lives to be like; they are in service for our overall points and aims. When goals get too specific, its easy to get stuck. When they are too short term, they encourage short-term thinking.

3. Start Committing
-The main reason we don't achieve our goals is because of the lack of commitment. A power psychological technique to increase the commitment is called:metal contrasting . Follow the link for more information

4. Sidestep procrastinationWhen goals are difficult and we wonder whether it's really worth it, procrastination can creep up on us. Under these circumstances the key is to forget about the goal and bury yourself in the details. Keep your head down and use self-imposed deadlines.
5.Reject robotic behaviorOften our behaviour is robotic. We do things not because we've really thought about it, but because it's a habit or we're unconsciously copying other people . This type of behaviour can be an enemy of goal striving. Ask yourself whether what you are doing is really getting you closer to your goal.

So what are your goals? How are you going to change them after reading this? Do you usually have long-term or short-term goals? What do your goals generally revolve around?

Back from vacation!

2011-08-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

I deeply apologize for all the days I've missed blogging and writing! I hope I didn't cause much confusion and misery =P

I was at Santa Cruz for a little while. I've also been working on some art projects. Anyway, I'll back to posting educational and intellectual posts. Summer is coming to an end, and the learning and yearning feeling is gradually coming back!

A new crop of college graduates have just landed on the job market. Right now they’re probably just hoping to get any job, if at all. However, for psychology majors, the salary outlook in both the short and long term is particularly poor, according to a new study which will be published in an upcoming issue of Perspectives onPsychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
It’s generally known that psychology majors don’t make a ton of money when they’re starting out; they’re not like engineering students, many of whom go straight into a job that pays well for their technical skills. But some people have suggested that a psychology major may pay off later in the career, as the critical thinking skills and literacy of the liberal arts education become more valuable. D.W. Rajecki of Indiana University was skeptical. “Psychology educators say liberal arts skills should be valuable in the workplace. Employers say they value liberal arts skills in employees,” he says. “I say, ‘show me the money.’” So, with Victor M.H. Borden, he set out to examine several data sets on earnings for people in different fields.
As expected, they found that psychology majors’ median starting salary of $35,300 is well below the average for college graduates. But they found that this is also true at midcareer, when psychology majors are still paid below the average. They fare particularly poorly when compared to graduates in other science fields, engineering, and health.
“Face it, wages are tied to specific occupations, and real-world data show that psychology alumni just don’t work in areas that pay top dollar,” says Rajecki. Advanced degrees don’t help, either. “Even psychology professors obtain appointments at the lower end of that salary scale.”
Rajecki doesn’t think this means 18-year-olds should stop choosing psychology as a major. “Psychology is a remarkable academic discipline that seems to get more interesting every passing year. Why should any student avoid the field?” he says. And, of course, money isn’t the only thing that matters. But when academic counselors are giving students advice, they should make it clear that psychology isn’t necessarily the road to riches.
###
For more information about this study, please contact: D. W. Rajecki at dwrajecki@sbcglobal.net.

from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/will-psych-majors-make-the-big-bucks.html

Do you know any psych majors? How are they doing in life now? Did they ever see yourself majoring in psychology? Do you think it is a good major?

Please voice your opinion on psychology majors down below!

2011-07-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

UB researcher Mark Frank, PhD, studies microexpressions that may indicate a person is being deceptive.

Be Still My Eyebrows: Liars Under Scrutiny Can't Completely Suppress Facial Expressions, Researchers Say

ScienceDaily (July 18, 2011) — Mark Frank has spent two decades studying the faces of people lying when in high-stakes situations and has good news for security experts.

"Executing Facial Control During Deception Situations," a new study he co-authored with former graduate student Carolyn M. Hurley, PhD, reports that although liars can reduce facial actions when under scrutiny, they can't suppress them all.

Frank, PhD, a professor of communication at the University at Buffalo, supervised and co-wrote the study with lead author Hurley, now a research scientist at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Published earlier this year in theJournal of Nonverbal Behavior, the study examined whether subjects could suppress facial actions like eyebrow movements or smiles on command while under scrutiny by a lie catcher.

It turns out subjects could to a degree, but not completely and not always.

The results are derived from frame-by-frame coding of facial movements filmed during an interrogation in which participants, some lying, some telling the truth, were asked to suppress specific parts of facial expressions. Hurley and Frank found that these actions can be reduced, but not eliminated, and that instructions to the subjects to suppress one element of expression resulted in reduction of all facial movement, regardless of their implications for veracity.

Despite these findings, the majority of the 60 study participants reported believing that they had controlled all facial movement and had remained "poker faced" during the interview/interrogation.

"Behavioral countermeasures," says Frank, "are the strategies engaged by liars to deliberately control face or body behavior to fool lie catchers. Until this study, research had not shown whether or not liars could suppress elements of their facial expression as a countermeasure.

"As a security strategy," he says, "there is great significance in observing and interpreting nonverbal behavior during an investigative interview, especially when the interviewee is trying to suppress certain expressions."

Hurley and Frank say prior research in Ironic Process Theory (IPT) has shown that when individuals are required to monitor their thought patterns so as to suppress a thought or image, the process places that thought or image into their monitoring memory, enabling it to intrude more frequently into their regular memory.

Hurley and Frank say this is even more likely to occur when one is telling a lie because, as research has shown, lying raises the cognitive load and reduces the ability to successfully and naturally engage in interaction with others.

The study involved 33 female and 27 male undergraduate subjects who were introduced into a crime scenario in which they were randomly assigned to either take (lie) or not take (tell the truth) a pair of movie tickets from an envelope.

They were then interviewed about the theft of the tickets by an experienced but neutral interrogator blind to the experimental conditions. Participants were told they would be rewarded if they convinced the interrogator of their honesty and punished if not. All denied taking the tickets.

Prior to the interview some subjects were specifically instructed to suppress upper face activity (manifested through eyebrow-raising actions) and lower face activity (manifested through smiling).

"Although these facial movements are not necessarily guaranteed signs of deception," says Frank, "expression suppression -- regardless of its validity as a clue to deception -- is clearly one of the more popular strategies used by liars to fool others. What we didn't know was how well individuals can do this when they are lying or when they are telling the truth.

"Based on the research literature on the nature of facial expressions of emotion, the neuroanatomy of the face, emotional suppression research and IPT research," he says, "we correctly predicted that in interrogations in which deception is a possibility, individuals would be able to significantly reduce their rate and intensity of smiling and brow movements when requested to do so, but would be able to do so to a lesser degree when telling a lie.

"And, since the lower face (and smile in particular) is easier to control than the upper face, we predicted that our subjects would more greatly reduce their rate of smiling, compared to their rate of brow movement, when requested to suppress these actions," he says, "and that turned out to be the case as well. We can reduce facial movements when trying to suppress them but we can't eliminate them completely.

"Whether we are dealing with highly skilled and motivated liars who have practiced their nonverbal expression in high-stakes scenarios, or untrained individuals who learn from a television program about a particular brow or lip movement that is allegedly a telltale sign of deception," Frank says, "the findings of this study have important implications for security settings."

Frank is a social psychologist who conducts research on human non-verbal communication -- particularly micro-expressions -- focused on truth-telling. He founded the Communication Science Center at UB in 2005 and his work, funded through major foundations, is recognized and employed by defense, science and security agencies throughout the world

Starting Strength: Nutrition

2011-07-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

From this point on, I will be posting alot of things related to the Starting Strength work-out program. This program is for scrawny teenagers who want to bulk up.

Method Three: Weekly Weigh-In/Food Journal Edit
This is in my opinion, the most accurate way to identify your ideal calorie intake. The only downside is that it takes a little more work from you to get it right.
Weigh yourself after your morning bowel evacuation. Note this weight.

Catalog your diet in a nutritional log, such as the one found here, for an entire week.

After a week of following your controlled nutrition plan weigh yourself again and see what the difference is.

If you've gained a lb, then you are approximately 500 calories per day above your daily caloric maintenance level, assuming you ate the same # of calories each day. (½ lb over = 250 cal over, 2 lbs = 1000 cal, etc). If you've maintained your present weight, then you are eating approximately at your maintenance level (calories in = calories out). If you've lost a pound, then you're 500 calories below your maintenance level.

Determine your maintenance level. From there, adjust your calories for your weight gain/loss goal. +500 kcal daily to gain 1-lb weekly, +750 kcal daily to gain 1.5 lbs weekly, +1000 to gain 2-lb weekly (don't do this if you're over 25, you'll get fat), +1500 if you want to gain 3-lb weekly (don't do this if you aren't still growing in height, you will get fat, unless you are a mutant). This is NOT 100% IRONCLAD, but is a pretty easy and cheap way to get the ball rolling.

This works in combination with the above methods too. You can make a quick determination of daily calories with Method 1 or 2 and then use Method 3 to check the efficacy of your menu. I recommend doing this every week or two and reassessing where your calorie needs stand.
How many Proteins, Carbs and Fats should I be getting?Edit

Skinny dudes probably will want higher carb and fat levels, and can shoot for about 25-50-25 for their PRO-CHO-FAT ratios. This means, 25% of calories will come from protein, 50% from carbohydrates and 25% from fat. This is NOT an exact specification! Skinny dudes don't need to follow the "super-high protein" type diets. You simply won't build muscle all that fast. You'll need the carbs and especially the fats to keep your body from catabolizing muscle tissue to use as fuel, just make sure you have a steady supply of nutrients entering your body during the day. NO SKIPPED MEALS!!!!

Chubbies will want lower carb levels and higher protein levels. give 50-30-20 or 50-25-25 a try and see how that works for you. Again, no skipped meals.

Natural mesomorphs (i.e. athletic types, those who are naturally pretty strong and lean) can probably do best (or do real well) on a diet that is somewhere around 40-40-20 of protein-carb fat. To be honest, almost anything will work for these guys, as long as they have their caloric needs met throughout the day.

Almost everyone can do pretty well on a 30-40-30 or a 33-33-33 type diet as well, assuming the carbs are clean (specifically this applies to chubbies).

Are these absolutes? No, of course not; they are starting points. Use them as such. If you know that you don't respond well to those same ratios, then great! Congrats. You already know what to eat, why are you reading this? :p

Let's do the calculations for a skinny 150-lb teenager, using the "Body Type Method".

150lbs x 22kcal/lb = 3300 calories.

25% protein = .25 x 3300 = 825 calories. 825 calories divided by 4 calories/gram ~ 205 grams PRO.

50% CHO = .50 x 3300 = 1650 calories. 1650 / 4 ~ 410-415 grams CHO

25% fat = 825 calories. 825/ 9 ~ 70-75g FAT.

That is the BASELINE. You will almost definitely want to add to this, especially because you have to account for the extra calories you are burning during training. Chances are good skinnies will want to add to the carbs andespecially the fats.
Other General Considerations Edit

Eating a ton does NOT mean you're absorbing a ton. You have to properly absorb your calories in order for them to be of use. If you are farting and crapping yourself every 10-15 minutes, then you added too many calories too fast. Scale back a bit and work your way back up. Too much too soon can overload your system. A good digestive enzyme can help remedy this.

You also may have a food allergy (wheat gluten and dairy lactose are 2 major culprits here) There are volumes upon volumes written about diet, go read up and learn more for yourself.

It takes approximately 3500 calories above maintenance to add a pound of bodyweight in a week (3500 calories/7 days = 500 calories/day).

It is consistent with typical muscular weight gains to put on .5-1.5 lbs. per week. If you're gaining more than that, and you're not a teenager, chances are you are gaining more than a bit of fat. If you're not a teenager and are gaining more than 2 lbs per week and it's muscle, then you're either a) a genetic freak, b) on steroids, or c) a genetic freak on steroids. Only teenagers (damn them all) have this unique ability.

Bottom line:

Eat too few calories, your gains will suffer. Eat too many calories, you'll add fat. As far as gains go it's better to overeat. In the end, it's up to you to determine your sweet spot as far as total calories. Keep a food log if you want to see how many actual calories you're eating, it's VERY difficult to estimate correctly.

Swimming and Stress!

2011-07-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

When Will Runners and Swimmers Reach Their Physical Limit?

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2010) — Running and swimming records are broken again and again at almost every international athletics event. But, can human performance continue to improve indefinitely? Will runners continue to accelerate off the starting blocks and reach the finish line in faster and faster times? Will swimmers always be able to dive into the record books with a quicker kick?

Writing in the International Journal of Applied Management Science, researchers from South Korea have analyzed data from sports events over the last one hundred years and have calculated that we could reach the upper limits on elite human performance within a decade.
Yu Sang Chang and Seung Jin Baek of the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in Seoul used non-linear regression models to accurately extrapolate the data from 61 running and swimming events. They have found the "time to limit" to be somewhere between 7.5 and 10.5 years. So, we may still see records being broken at the 2012 Olympics in London and perhaps at Rio 2016, but after that...who knows? The researchers believe their discovery of a "time to limit" has a number of policy implications for the local and national sport associations as well as for the international rule-setting federations.
Of course, US swimmer, Michael Phelps famously proclaimed that, "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get." Phelps has set around 40 world records. Sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica, similarly shaves split seconds from his 100-metre time almost every time he runs. Countless researchers have previously suggested that humans have a performance limit, Bolt's 9.58 second 100m shattered the previous theoretical running speed limit of 9.60s suggested 40 years ago.
"The limit of speed in sport events has been a popular topic for the public because watching athletes setting new records to win is exciting and stimulating for many sport fans," Chang and Baek suggest. "In addition, setting new world records may even be inspiring to the public because the process of improving and winning the competition reminds them of what they can accomplish in their own life."
Other researchers have criticized the use of linear regression to extrapolate to a limit. However, the present work uses the officially recognized world records on 61 sporting events during the period from 1900 to 2009. (29 running and 32 swimming events all at the Olympic level. "Therefore, this study may be the most comprehensive study undertaken so far," the researchers say. Their statistical analysis suggests that improvements in running and swimming are slowing down and will eventually reach a maximum in the time period they suggest. However, their analysis does not take into account changes in the rules, measurements, and environmental conditions. If the governing federations move the starting blocks as it were, Phelps' prediction that there are no limits may come true and athletes will continue to make a splash in the record
Stress Can Enhance Ordinary, Unrelated Memories

Study about Stress:

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2010) — Stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories, a team of neuroscientists has found in a study of laboratory rats. Their results, which appear in the journal PLoS Biology, may bolster our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and could offer a pathway for addressing PTSD and related afflictions.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Czech Republic's Academy of Sciences, the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, and Rockefeller University.
"Our results show that stress can activate memory, even if that memory is unrelated to the stressful experience," explained André Fenton, the study's lead author and a professor at New York University's Center for Neural Science.
"Additional investigations into the effects of stress on memories could shed light on PTSD and other stress-related mood disorders," added Fenton, who directed the studies while he was a Research Scientist in the Czech Republic and an associate professor of physiology and pharmacology at SUNY Downstate.
The study's other authors are: Karel Ježek of the Czech Republic's Academy of Sciences; Benjamin Lee and Eduard Kelemen of SUNY Downstate; and Katharine McCarthy and Bruce McEwen of Rockefeller University.
A common feature of PTSD and various mood and anxiety disorders is the formation of negative associations from otherwise innocuous stimuli or the recall of negative memories stimulated by unrelated, neutral circumstances. What's less clear is how stress influences these phenomena.
To explore the impact of stress on these disorders, the researchers conducted several experiments using laboratory rats.
In these experiments, rats learned to make distinctions between left and right in a T-shaped maze. One day later, the researchers induced stress in the rats through a commonly practiced technique -- placing them in a bucket of water in which they had to swim. Other rats were placed in shallow water, where swimming was not necessary. Subsequent to this procedure, the rats were again tasked with navigating the maze. Their results showed that the rats who had undergone the stressful swim showed better memory for which way to turn in the T-maze than those placed in shallow water.
To test the validity of their findings -- that the memory for navigating the maze was enhanced by the stressful swim and not other forces -- the researchers conducted a series of additional experiments. These procedures ruled out that learning the maze itself was a source of stress and showed a clear link between the stress induced by the swim and changes in the memories of navigating the maze, even though the changed memories were unrelated to the stressful experience.
These results show that stress can reactivate unrelated memories, leading the authors to hypothesize that, in humans, traumatic stress might reactivate non-traumatic memories and link them to the traumatic memory, thereby facilitating the pathological effects seen in post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions

Credits: Science Daily

Do you believe in a "block" that swimmers will face in their lifetime when they just can't get any faster? How close do you think you are to that block?

Alcohol Hurts

2011-07-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Researchers released the latest findings on such negative effects of alcohol during a meeting Nov. 19 of the Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group, held at Loyola University Medical Center.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2010) — Alcohol can do much more harm to the body than just damaging the liver. Drinking also can weaken the immune system, slow healing, impair bone formation, increase the risk of HIV transmission and hinder recovery from burns, trauma, bleeding and surgery.
At Loyola, about 50 faculty members, technicians, post-doctoral fellows and students are conducting alcohol research. Studies at Loyola and other centers could lead to therapies to boost the immune system or otherwise minimize the effects of alcohol, said Elizabeth J. Kovacs, PhD, director of Loyola's Alcohol Research Program and associate director of Loyola's Burn & Shock Trauma Institute.
"Of course, the best way to prevent the damaging effects of alcohol is to not drink in the first place," Kovacs said. "But it is very difficult to get people to do this."
Sessions at the conference included Alcohol and Infection, Alcohol and Oxidative Stress and Alcohol and Organ Inflammation. Findings were presented by researchers from centers around the country, including Loyola, Cleveland Clinic, University of Iowa, University of Colorado, University of Massachusetts, Mississippi State University, Chicago State University and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
The conference was supported by Loyola's Alcohol Research Program and Department of Surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, the Society for Leukocyte Biology and the NIAAA

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2010) — There has been an abundance of research on the effects of alcohol on the brain, but many questions regarding how alcohol impairs the built-in control systems are still unknown. A new study released in the January 2011 issue ofAlcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, which is currently available at Early View, explores that subject in detail and found that certain brain regions involved in error processing are affected more by alcohol than others.
According to Beth Anderson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Centre at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and lead author of the paper, this research is only the first step in a much larger process."Alcohol is widely consumed in our society today. We know it alters behavior, but surprisingly it is not well studied at the brain level. Once we understand how it is altering the brain, we can better inform the public of the consequences of drinking alcohol."
The researchers gave 38 volunteers different doses of alcohol to establish a breath alcohol concentration of zero for the control group, 0.05 per cent for moderate intoxication, or 0.1 per cent for a high level of alcohol intake. Then, once the alcohol was given enough time to cause intoxication, the volunteers participated in a Go/No-Go reaction test, where either the letters "K" or "X" were displayed on a screen with specific instructions to only press a button when an "X" was displayed.
In the experiment, there was no significant data between the control and moderate intoxication, but there were some very interesting results discovered between the control and high dose testing. After receiving the highest level of alcohol, individuals were found to have an increased reaction time, more errors and an overall decrease of successful trials.
According to Anderson, the lack of data regarding the moderate doses of alcohol was likely due to the fact that the participants were able to partially compensate for the effects of the alcohol. However, following the higher dose, individuals would have had a much more difficult time achieving that. "The increased reaction time was likely an attempt to compensate for their impairment. They may have slowed down in an attempt to keep from making more errors."
However, these results still yield more questions regarding the mystery of how alcohol impairs the control centers of the brain, and only more research will be able to help solve this complicated problem.
"We know [alcohol] alters behavior, but surprisingly, it is not well studied at the brain level," Anderson said. "Once we understand how it is altering the brain, we can better inform the public of the consequences of drinking alcohol.

When have you first started drinking? What brought you into drinking? What do you feel about it now after reading this post? Do you know people who are heavy drinkers and have the symptoms of the latter?

Top News :Enhance Romance by Going out With Other Couples

2011-07-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

A study was conducted in Feb 2011

Romantic relationships often start out as enjoyable or even exciting, but sometimes may become routine and boring. A Wayne State University study reveals that dating couples that integrate other couples into their social lives are more likely to have happy and satisfying romantic relationships.

Richard B. Slatcher, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a resident of Birmingham, Mich., specializes in social and health psychology. His recent research suggests that spending quality time with other couples may be an important way to improve long-term dating relationships.
His study, "When Harry and Sally met Dick and Jane: Experimentally creating closeness between couples," which recently appeared inPersonal Relationships, investigated 60 dating couples in a controlled laboratory setting. The object was to better understand how friendships between couples are formed, and to learn how these friendships affected each couple's romantic relationship.
Each couple was paired with another couple and given a set of questions to discuss as a group. Half of the groups were given high-disclosure questions intended to spark intense discussion, while the other half were given small-talk questions that focused on everyday, unemotional activities.
"In this study, we discovered that those couples who were placed in the "fast friends" group felt closer to the couples they interacted with, and were more likely actually to meet up with them again during the following month," said Slatcher. "We also learned that these same couples felt that this friendship put a spark in their own relationships, and they felt much closer to their romantic partners."
The couples in the high-disclosure group reported greater increases in positive feelings after the intense interaction. They also felt the interaction was more novel and that they learned new things about their romantic partner compared to couples in the small-talk group. In addition, one-third of the couples in the high-disclosure group contacted the other couple they met in the study, while none of the couples in the small-talk group initiated contact with the couple they had met.
"This study suggests that if your romantic relationship has a case of the doldrums, having fun with another couple may help

By going out with other couples, our romance may be enhanced! It is apparent that the romance may burn out quickly. What do you guys think about this new find? Do you think it is necessary to "spice" up your romance?

2011-07-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Histopathology of Hirschsprung disease.Enzyme histochemistry showing aberrant acetylcholine esterase (ACHE)-positive fibres (brown) in the lamina propria mucosae.

I had Hirschsprung disease. I don't remember it, but I had it. My parents tell me that when I was only a few years old, I had to undergo a big surgery operation. I have scars from it around my stomach, but I don't remember a single thing about it.

Apparently, only 14 out of 100,000 people receive it. I was one of those lucky winners. As Wikipedia does a general introduction of the subject:

Hirschsprung's disease (HD), or congenital aganglionic megacolon, involves an aganglionic section of bowel^[1] (the normal enteric nerves are absent) that starts at the anus and progresses proximally. The length of bowel that is affected varies but seldom stretches for more than about 30 cm. It arises when certain nerve cells in the gut (called ganglion cells) fail to develop and mature correctly. The result is a section of bowel that is essentially paralyzed.

There is also a limited amount of ways to treat this:

Treatment of Hirschsprung's disease consists of surgical removal (resection) of the abnormal section of the colon, followed by reanastomosis. There used to be two steps typically used to achieve this goal.

The first stage used to be a colostomy. When a colostomy is performed, the large intestine is cut and an opening is made through the abdomen. This allows bowel contents to be discharged into a bag.
Later, when the child’s weight, age, and condition is right, a pull-through procedure is performed.

Orvar Swenson, the same man who discovered the cause of Hirschsprung’s, first performed it in 1948.^[14] The pull-through procedure repairs the colon by connecting the functioning portion of the bowel to the anus. The pull through procedure is the typical method for treating Hirschsprung’s in younger patients. Swenson devised the original procedure, but the pull-through surgery has been modified many times.
The Swenson, Soave, Duhamel, and Boley procedures all vary slightly from each other:

The Swenson procedure leaves a small portion of the diseased bowel.
The Soave procedure leaves the outer wall of the colon unaltered. The Boley procedure is just a small modification of the Soave procedure. The term "Soave-Boley" procedure is sometimes used.^[15]^[16]
The Duhamel procedure uses a surgical stapler to connect the good and bad bowel.

Of those 15% of children who do not obtain full control, various other treatments are available. If constipation is the problem then usually laxatives or a high fiber diet will overcome the problem. If lack of control is the problem then a stoma may be necessary. The ACE or Malone is also an answer. This is where a tube goes through the abdominal wall to the appendix, or if available, to the colon. Then once a day the bowel is flushed. Children as young as 6 do fine with administering this on their own.
If the affected portion of the lower intestine is restricted to the lower portion of the rectum, other surgical procedures, such as the posterior rectal myectomy, can be performed.

As you can see, the Duhamel producer uses a surgical stapler to connect the good and bad bowel. But, in contrast, the Soave procedure leaves the outer wall of the colon unaltered. The Boley procedure is just a small modification and thus the "Soave-Boley" procedure is sometimes used. If the procedures and such do not come out to become successful, careful measures must be taken. A Stoma becomes necessary.

What are the symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease?

Eighty percent of children with Hirschsprung's disease show symptoms in the first 6 weeks of life. Children who only have a short segment of intestine that lacks normal nerve cells may not show symptoms for several months or years. The following are the most common symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:

not having a bowel movement in the first 48 hours of life
gradual bloating of the abdomen
gradual onset of vomiting
fever

Children who do not have early symptoms may also present the following:

constipation that becomes worse with time
loss of appetite
delayed growth
passing small, watery stools

Symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease may resemble other conditions or medical problems. Please consult your child's physician for a diagnosis.

As a conclusion, it is fatal for parents and nurses to take the full measures of diagnosing a newborn child. Due to unknown reasons, the symptoms Hirschpung disease may appear. Medical assessments are absolutely necessary! Please, if you know the parents of a newborn, be sure to tell them!

Medical Change

2011-07-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Reader,

For a while now I've been contemplating the subject of my blog. So far it has been split into two broad sections of learning and yearning. I have decided to change my blog into a more scientifically oriented area.

With that said, I will provide medical information for all types of situations. More geared to the mind and brain, information about disorders and psychology will be given.

Today I will be writing about Mad Cow Disease.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2011) — Scientists at the University of Kentucky have discovered that plasminogen, a protein used by the body to break up blood clots, speeds up the progress of prion diseases such as mad cow disease.

As you can see, this study is very recent.

This finding makes plasminogen a promising new target for the development of drugs to treat prion diseases in humans and animals, says study senior author Chongsuk Ryou, a researcher at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the UK College of Medicine.
"I hope that our study will aid in developing therapy for prion diseases, which will ultimately improve the quality of life of patients suffering from prion diseases," Ryou said. "Since prion diseases can lay undetected for decades, delaying the ability of the disease-associated prion protein to replicate by targeting the cofactor of the process could be a monumental implication for treatment."
The study was reported in the December issue of The FASEB Journal, published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Ryou's team used simple test-tube reactions to multiply disease-associated prion proteins. The reactions were conducted in the presence or absence of plasminogen. They also found that the natural replication of the prions was stimulated by plasminogen in animal cells.
"Rogue prions are one of nature's most interesting, deadly and least understood biological freak shows," says Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal. "They are neither virus nor bacteria, but they kill or harm you just the same. By showing how prions hijack our own clot-busting machinery, this work points to a new target for anti-prion therapy."
According to the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prion diseases are a related group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. The diseases are characterized by certain misshapen protein molecules that appear in brain tissue. Normal forms of these prion protein molecules reside on the surface of many types of cells, including brain cells, but scientists do not understand what normal prion protein does. On the other hand, scientists believe that abnormal prion protein, which clumps together and accumulates in brain tissue, is the likely cause of the brain damage that occurs. Scientists do not have a good understanding of what causes the normal prion protein to take on the misshapen abnormal form.
Prion diseases are also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, and include bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow" disease) in cattle; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans; scrapie in sheep; and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. These proteins may be spread through certain types of contact with infected tissue, body fluids, and possibly, contaminated medical instruments.

The co-author of the study is Charles E. Mays, formerly a graduate student in the Ryou lab

I'm sure we all remember that time when Mad Cow disease was of extreme relevance. But little did we know that research is still conducted on the subject.

Even though the disease has settled down considerably, study is still focused to develop medicine that can improve the quality of life for patients suffering from related diseases.

Prions can turn a normal protein into a misfolded form. One prion in mammals promotes progressive neurodegenerative disorders like "mad cow" disease that often prove fatal. But how this process happens remains an open question for scientists.
Prions have been found to exist in a wide range of organisms. Those in brewer's yeast, which researchers like Liebman study, provide critical insight into how prions work.
Prion proteins in yeast aggregate, while non-prion proteins do not. Aggregation of new prions happens spontaneously -- but, in the natural world, very slowly.
Anita Manogaran, a former UIC research assistant professor in biological sciences, working with Liebman, sped-up prion formation to identify genes important in the process. The researchers were also able to monitor different stages of prion appearance by tagging prion proteins with another protein that fluoresces green. Cells in the process of forming prions had fluorescent rings, which could give rise to cells with prions.
"We learned there are some genes important for the generation of prions," Liebman said.
Some 400 yeast genes were screened for the ability to prevent the new appearance of yeast prion proteins.
"Through a number of screens, we came down to a much smaller number (of genes) that inhibited prion appearance," Liebman said. These genes fell into two classes -- one that could still make the rings, which is the hallmark of the beginning of prion aggregation. But the other class of genes had trouble forming rings, Liebman said.
Liebman and Manogaran also looked beyond new prion formation to see if these same genes had an effect on toxicity associated with a protein that causes Huntington's disease -- a fatal human neurodegenerative disorder.
"We found that genes that could make rings also were more toxic in the presence of the Huntington's disease protein," Liebman said. "If no rings were made, they were less toxic."
The full implications of the findings are not yet understood, Liebman cautioned.
"The more we understand about these mechanisms and the genes that are involved, the more we'll be able to understand the new appearance of prion disease -- like Creutzfeldt-Jakob and 'mad cow' -- and Huntington's disease. The more we understand what affects toxicity, the more we'll understand why these are toxic."
The findings were reported in the May 19 issue of PLoS Genetics.
Manogaran, now at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UIC research assistant Joo Hong and former UIC undergraduate student Joan Hufana worked with Liebman on the project. Other co-authors of the paper include Jens Tyedmers of the University of Heidelberg and Susan Lindquist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As you can see here, more findings are being made. Thank you for reading. Please, if I may, what are your thoughts of researching diseases that are not of extreme relevance? Do you think they are an efficient way to use money? In these economic times, is it necessary to spend the money on such diseases?

Yearning: a power to change

2011-07-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

And suddenly, I found myself in a brawl. Guns out and knives were wielded.

It's strange how one finds himself trapped in a situation where he is limited by the amount of actions he can act upon. In my case, I was in a argument with a family member that led to death. Of course, it didn't lead to the death of a human, but to an endeavor. An endeavor to help.

It's a strange feeling knowing that you had the ability to help someone a few years ago, but since you didn't, the problem grew into something bigger. And now, the little problem that was a seed, he is engulfed by the spicy venom.

It's a sad feeling.

Learning: Honey Mustard Dressing & Salad Dressing

2011-07-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Honey Mustard Dressing II and Scrubby Bear's Own : random salad dressing

Cup Noodles? Check! Costco rotisserie chicken? Yes. Salad? :) .... Sauce and salad dressing? :(

I took it upon myself to make myself a delicious and unhealthy meal. The clock was ticking and I had plans for the rest of the day, and I thought I was done making lunch after the water boiled and the chicken was sliced.

Literally my "salad"

After taking a deep breath of the delicious aroma of cheap noodles and chicken, I was ready to feast. As the soft noodles and roasted chicken skin dangled off the chopsticks in my mouth, I noticed there was something terribly wrong.

Me thinking about what was missing

After pondering for a while, I figured it out. The missing gear to the grand lunch was salad dressing and some sexy sauce for the chicken.

I figured it out:

Honey Mustard Dressing II

By: Mary Ann Benzon

Ingredients

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

----- mine tasted straight up creamy and sweet.. with a bit of mustard taste.

Scrubby Bear Random Salad Dressing:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons dried parsley

2 tablespoons paprika

1.5 tablespoons ground pepper

Vigorously shake that.

--------should taste spicy, tangy, slightly salty, tiny bit sour, and sweet.

After about 20 minutes of synthesizing the final ingredient to my 5 star lunch, I was to lazy too eat anything and wrote this blog.

Enjoy ;)

Yearning: a time for time management

2011-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

a time for time management

I told myself today that I would only spend about an hour for blogging per day. I said that at about 9a.m. and then I had a sudden impulse to start blogging and it didn't end till about 11... Now, I'm starting to blog again and this running on the "2 hours+ " section of my day's time. This is starting to become a priority for me because of the enjoyment and extreme... pleasure ;) I am getting from writing (I think it's because I'm so captivating, and have such good topics!).

Though this whole blogging thing is fun and interesting and so fulfilling and so captivating and etc. I need to watch my time. I've had a time problem since the beginning of time. I can't keep track of dates nor the time very well.

"Oh, but Mr. Pink! Look at the brightside; you have such a skill! Your lack of time management is always useful when it's PARTY TIME!"

Yes, you're right. I always loose track of time, especially when it is party time. But, now is a time for change.

I've always heard people tell one another that the best way to organize your time is to use a planner so that you can develop good time management skills. Yeah, I've tried that and it becomes all helpful and dandy... until I couldn't remember a single thing without my notebook.

That stupid notebook that is so damn helpful.

THEN life started to twist backwards. I tried shaving down the amount of usage of the notebook, but I just had trouble getting things done. My showers and bathroom breaks got out of hand: 2 hour toilet breaks just became ridiculous. "Call Mrs. White about bank account" became a "go have a wicked loose chill out with Mrs. White and all your friends around the beach so that you could get to know her more...... Oh, and mention your bank account for an ice breaker." "Read" transformed into "Watch every movie that is loosely based on a novel... and then maybe watch a few movies that are somewhat related to the previous movies so that the general theme is stuck in your head."

As you might have noticed, the dangerous notebook was a double edged sword.

But then I found that rusty old metal notebook and started to utilize it again.

So now you must be wondering,

" Wow, Mr. Pink, you're a genius! Please elaborate on how I could use this double edged notebook to somehow benefit my life!"

Well, young Jacky, you see, time management is a skill that calls for very specific and unique identifications. You've got to prioritize your plans first. Then, you must have a planner to write in the activities with specific time lengths. For example: I want to spend time blogging. I would write in my planner "9-10A.M. Blog about ____." Then I would plan the next activity "10-10:10: Drink 2 cups of water." It is key that the time frame is specified and the activity is also detailed in the planner.

O.K. I'm seriously running out of time here. I have an appointment in 10 minutes and I have never been there before, so I'm going to hurry this up.

The last thing you need for time management skills is self-control. That took up 5 minutes to think of.

Thanks for reading.

Yearning: a better foundation

2011-07-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

a better foundation

It might be because of the striking mood the song set.... or it could be the endless chaos that is never settling in the house that I live in. I've always wanted to move out of this dysfunctional household and live on my own, but I want to take on a new perspective upon this conflict that will never leave me even when I do move out. It was never surprising to come home to find my parents arguing about something stupid. As a child, I was raised in a family that never held any harmony in anything we did together. Always there was entropy. Always there was disorder.

Its summer now and I usually stay in the house. Staying idle and bored in the house was a quiet tradition that my older brothers held throughout our lives due to fact that if we dared to leave much, sparks would have set aflame to a heated argument about freedom and happiness between my father.

A war was set off just a moment ago. I set off a crusade by telling my father that I would be out on Sunday to connect with a few old friends. Could I do anything about this unsettling conflict that is always a barrier between my father and me? It's as if they grew up to be taught to be anti-social and to disregard all other human beings on the planet. I don't understand how they can ever say that they lived a fulfilling life when they don't ever leave the house or even let their children enjoy their own lives. Even between themselves, conversations are focused on topics that inevitably lead to strife and hatred.

After years of questioning their ideals and values, I have come to the conclusion that this distant relationship between Dad and I was because of the different values that were instilled in us when we were children, while our minds were still like sponges. This expanding gap between us could possibly lead on forever throughout the rest of our lives. But, that is certainly up to us; One of us has to sacrifice a cornerstone value to be in the slightest agreement. From great observations made during the intense exchanging of 140 decibel conversations, it is evident that my extremely stubborn dad won't be the ones to bend to commit to a thriving relationship.

It comes down to my decisions. The great power of controlling a relationship relies upon me. The path of our relationship stands on the mindset that I will carry when under fire of the 140 decibel bullets of traditional values. Will I be able to break through this line of tradition without ruining the relationship with my father? This path that I am headed towards holds great insights for the time that I will have children that will have the same outlook on life. I will need to lock up my values, chain it with Kryptonite locks, and store it deep within me while I live under the barrages of my father, so that I may build a relationship that never existed. I yearn for the power to build a relationship between a father and a son.

Learning: Massive Dump

2011-07-06T10:55:00.001-07:00

Massive. Dump.

Do you know what I hate? I hate getting up at 6 in the morning, cramming oatmeal and cottage cheese, and then jumping in the pool by 6:40. I had the exact same look right when I hopped into the warm pool and began my set. It was a nice, sunny, and cool morning, and the pool was at an excellent temperature. So why such a sour face?

... I had to take a massive diarrhea. And you know what I did, right? I took that dump right then and there. You should have seen the impact. Similar to the bullet ripping through an apple @ 0:22 in this:

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.. No, I was just joking. I wish I could take that fat dump; release the monstrous creature into the beautiful crystal clean pool. Instead, I held it in. Yes, I held my feces in my stomach while I was swimming sprint 100's. Could you imagine how that felt?

What a great lesson I've learned today: Always remember to hold your poop overnight so when I swim the next morning, I can feel good. No, no no. I learned that I need to set my alarm clock at least 40 minutes before I actually need to wake up to prepare.

It's interesting. My first post in my blog is about my wishing I could have diarrhea'd into the pool. Boy, this will truly be an adventure.

;)

2011-07-06T09:53:00.001-07:00

Dear Anon,

Before you continue to stay on this blog, I would like to assure you that I will provide the most unoriginal, random, and illogical, material that is saturated with incoherent content. Though provided with such a comforting oath, I also promise that within this blog lies a vast horizon that will provide a new perspective to look through to gain new interests and insights.

Sincerely,

Daniel