HERPES GOT MARRIED
true, this pic is boring, but that’s all I have now. it was taken with iphone at the barbecue party the other day and the sky looked colorful so I thought: watermelon!
Did you know that there are SEPARATE and MARRIED mechanisms of HSV in neurons?
You beat me again, even herpes is married.
Why did they put this term? Married. Why not TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY UNTIL SEPARATE?
Ja, we have a problem. I think they go together as usual. Separate and married are just two sides of the other blue coin.
usch, vilken tråkig bild
nä jag måste fortsätta, snart är det en ny dag, yay!
CX3CR1 SIGNALING
‘We demonstrated a role for the chemokine receptor CX3CR1 in microglial neurotoxicity in three clinically relevant models: CNS response to systemic inflammation, the MPTP model of Parkinson disease, and the SOD1 model of ALS. Based on complementary expression of CX3CL1 on neurons and CX3CR1 on microglia, it has been proposed that neuron signaling to microglia might be mediated through this receptor.’
How awesome I can’t help think it is:
‘Excitotoxic injury is a potent stimulus for release of CX3CL1 from cultured neurons, CX3CR1 supports neuronal survival, microglia culutred with CX3CL1 are protected from Fas-mediated apoptosis, and CX3CL1 suppresses neuronal cell death in LPS- and IFN-gamma-stimulated microglial and neuronal cocultures.’
Absolutely fantastic. Who would have known, coming from this unique chemokine, now I want to know more about this fabulous glycoprotein.
Tomorrow.
OK, let’s just finish off this talk by saying that augmenting (INCREASING) CX3CR1 singaling is a good thang!
I also had one hour break to test run my new jogging shoes.
more sky pics on display one at a time above – these were from tonight very cold, but went out at 9pm to run, a bit late
STATISTICS
Now I am even more frustrated, and will thus call my next file:
StatistikFan.xcl
Previous files were called:
TestingTesting.ppt, Testing2.ppt, TestingTestingTesting3.ppt, Testing4798.ppt, TestingT53.doc
I will soon give up and leave cursed excel sheets to go do some warm up in the gym before badminton, because I began to post on my blog, and I ate nothing today, so had to fill up with liquorice hidden in my snusdosa (present from dad). Thank god for that. The coffee still sucks, and I screamed on my way to work because Cafe Marmelad was closed that early and didn’t really feel for 7/11 coffee either, and the picture in my mind of drinking Virology automate coffee was just too much to bare.
Aj, aj, aj… what a day. Utterly unbelievable, well too late to turn back the clock. The hill is getting real steep now. Meanwhile I put on some of my smooth ‘Vichy Laboratories’ Capital Soleil 50+ Stick Tres haute Protection – Zones sensibles.
My liquorice is finished.
WAFFEL CELLS
A whole lot of cells flipping out around the waffels. Good stuff, with cream and jam. So today we celebrated the Waffel day here in Sweden.
Do you have it in China too, or perhaps in Texas? =)
I got full after one heart already. Amazing…I like it a lot.
LET’S CALL IT ETHICS
I have nothing good to post but I want something up not to miss the calendar. I can add that I have actually so much I want to say or post but there is no space or time right now. Will save it for later.
At work: where I was going there were no multiple individuals cheering the fact that Kat’s coming. No, in this case they probably was wishing I did not show up. Well, no can do. I’m sorry guys for everything.
Don’t forget to do your dishes tonight.
PREP
This Sunday the 19th of Feb was spent preparing for the big experiment in the following days. This is what it looked like.
Crying, cursing and waiting for the equipment to settle. All the while my heart cells were shrinking from sadness of the wonderful sun that was shining on the ice/snow covered streets. Cos I was not walking there. I was looking out now and then.
winter window to the lab
the lab
listen to Galvanize while filling up the tips (moving to the beat with one leg) – one empty row in between for the multipipette use when washing the cells -awesome planning Kat
usb to export my fcs files – gold touch pen found in the room for writing labels, though my name looks red it is actually golden
Ah, we’re on to something!
Translation from last week House episode above: *I put the diagnose transversal myelitis on a cold sore. Cool isn’t it!*
Cold sore here was from Herpes simplex virus type 1 in case you didn’t know, though he was wrong.
The beautiful morning sun on Friday the 18th of Feb made me in a happy mood. Bummer, did not take a pic from today’s sun.
nope, did not succeed, though we see there is a lot of sunshine
WINDOWS OF RESEARCH
The 13th of February. I was dead tired but the sun shone and it was a pleasant day still.
Working street on this day was not a happy sight either, the reflection in the tram hood is windows from our working building (the dark area in the glass is not a building but trees, though it looks like it is a building with windows…) and the stripe which you can hardly see is the tram passing by. I thought it looked funny when I stood with my back to the building looking out towards the parking place. My thought was that even through the glass one can see the windows of research. =)
LAB COAD
Put on your lab coat Katerinka!
How convenient That I got a new coat FROM basement storage today.
Long good sleevs to keep bacteria, I mean viruses off wrist.
LATE NIGHT WORK
Why do I bring my gym bag to work? To store it so I don’t have to bring it tomollow?
NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
Quite nice working atmosphere I must say. The other day we drove with our working group to Kärlingesund Konferenscenter, a pearl on the west coast an hour drive from Gothenburg. The day was full of lectures followed by vivid discussions about herpes simplex virus and why glycoproteins hooked on herpes have mucinlike domains. We discussed also the history and phylogeny of a couple of viruses related to us, and at the end of the day we came to the conclusion that we don’t know anything and we are all wrong. Nothing is right and we need to suspect everything because nothing is what it seems. I could not agree more.
We took a nice walk during lunch time. Ah, I was teased for my high heels which I took on for the day, and it turned out to be not the smartest choice for nature walk with ice and mud. However, the walk was not affected at all by this bad choice. I was just not thinking as usual when I leave home.
WE GET CONFUSED
COLOR MY WORK
I like very much to work with the photoshop express app, it gives me something to do on the tram. Usually I have time to do three pictures on one ride.
This collection is called ‘Color my work’.
Was waiting for the tram at Botaniska going to work, and I got really fed up with waiting. The editing on this picture thus fits quite well with my state on this Sunday. It was the same Sunday I took the pictures in the office with different edit. I love to make edits of me (or people) that gives me a corner of the UNKNOWN =), HAUNTED, OLD, SAD; SCARY. You understand, emotions which are not normal superficial states.
This is the everyday picture of my office desk, with notes on a piece of napkin, true working tempo of the nutty researcher.
Accompanied with fresh, old and disgusting coffee. I say we introduce the La Tazza d’Oro only with including espresso machine. For god sake we have a long degree, and it ain’t that funny to infect all day long.
My coffee 3 days post pour.
QUIZ
Can you guess what this is?
First person who gets it right will win a portrait of yourself, shot by me, to put up at your working place, to let them know that you work there.
And there will be no warping done, I promise.
Someone would say that this is very creative since no photographer would ever think about shooting at this angle.
Do you see how I made the emphasis on shape, color and lack of integrity?
WHAT KIND OF WORK IS THAT ON SUNDAYS?
Yeah, that’s what I think. It stinks, but still it doesn’t. Depends on how you look at it. Spending my Sunday in the office is not what I would do if this was my last day in life.
NO EFFECT
I tried today to enter my floor with my bank card instead of the usual ID card. I was wondering why the lamp didn’t shine, and I started laughing when I saw that it was the bank card and of course took a picture of this hilarious, mind-blowing extremely not to mention suverenely funny moment.
We postulated that maybe the new chief has induced a system of withdrawing money from your salary each time the, why even the ID card, is passed through. Maybe 10öre/pass goes directly into the Swiss bank account. No one will notice.
WANTED
I haven’t decided yet what to do, and how I will send it in, I only know it should be relatively good, or as good as can do according to my capacity (of today). The difference between a frameshift mutation and deletion is quite important to know, and when to use this fact. I can reveal that codons are involved. I have to dig more in this though. Herpes simplex virus type 2 has the ability (a characteristic of viruses in general) to evolve different mutant strains. Evolution is interestsing in this sense because it works in a natural process to survive the surroundings, much like I have evolved as a PhD student, screaming to solidify my place here, to overcome the obstacles that result in otherwise limitations of existence, which of course is not wanted. A frameshift mutation is responsible for the disabling of the CCR5 HIV receptor and some types of familial hypercholesterolemia (Lewis, 2005, p. 227-228).
I am trying to appear as the mutant I have become, truncated from fundamental mechanisms of being, but I think I have to work more to present it accurately on print.
picture removed
Now that’s all the blog thinking I have time to do during my lunch time. Have to go and mix myself a low-carb source of food intake and then continue with writing about frameshift mutations, that must be ready in about 30 min. After this I really have to work on the soldiers of the immune system.
Hasta la vista!
Oh, I just realized that the picture below, showing my shadow in the water with the tree on the left side, would have been rather suitable for this post of truncation, n’esc-ce pas?
He He
WARNING
There is danger on the ground.
Ah, I should edit it in Photoshop. The above was made in iPhoto due to laziness. I saw an interesting mark which looked like the mark from a tire and some revealing heights of snow/ice making a defined pattern.
Stepping out of the door from my building, I thought that this would have been a perfect photo day in all the rainy reflections coming at me. Literally jumping at me.
But I had to go to work and once there I was just thinking how I hate being at work on Saturdays nowadays. It didn’t use to be like that but since I got my camera very much indeed.
So went home to do double the amount of work.
WORKING FULL MOON
This is the last full moon of 2010, my sight on the 21st of Dec, and it was a good one this time. I missed the Godess’s full moon, which was supposed to be at 12:13 am on the 21st. Could have seen her bright on the 20th already but I guess the visions below are passed… Oh well, at least I got full of her if only for a moment. The traffic light looked especially dramatic on this full moon night outside work.
The picture is not edited at all. I rather liked it this way.
The moon was first seen by me next to our working buildings, when I was standing at tram station.
Last shot at the full moon, from tram station view. I wanted to capture the clear edge that I saw around it, and less of the shimmer around it, since that is how I saw it. Very round, clear edged and bright in the dark sky.
FOR FACS SAKE
I’m at work on this 4th of Advent before the day when Jesus was born. Joyfully, it’s time for some serious herpes s***e. On Sundays I can work more freely, since no one is watching me and I can do Flow Jo in my own pace (almost). I will perhaps have my second panick attack soon because I have hundreds of pics and videos waiting to succumb in Photoshop. Right now though, I have to drain my focus on Flow Jo. Succumb, that’s a good one… So! I felt especially Christmassy today and was thinking how can I Christmas-pimp up blessed Flow Jo? Aj, aj, aj…
These plots are FACS figures of my cells that I am working on and analyzing in the wanted program Flow Jo. I arranged the plots, after editing color and shape of the cell gates, in a chess board style in Flow Jo. So for those of you who don’t know what FACS or Flow Jo is, the stain like shapes in the squares are how cells are presented in the plot. So if the plot would show dots, each dot represents a cell. When analyzing cells from spleen, we collect perhaps more than 10,000 cells, so there will be lots of dots. The plot of cells can then be visualized with a style called ‘Zebra’, which connects the dots to show the population in circles like you see. Or on the white squares I chose to present the cells as density plot. Santa Claus then told me to decorate the chess board as a Christmas gift in Power Point. Just to compensate the Christmas feeling that is missing this year. FACS is also much more fun this way.
4 MINUTES
This first working Wednesday was filled with ‘warming up’ office events, such as ordering mice, attending several meetings and planning of what is ahead. Maybe now the luck is turning! (smile)
As a celebration of life and Christmas, the day at Virologen was terminated with intense inne-bandy (indoor bandy?), beer, glögg (Swedish Christmas hot drink) and sauna bathing while eating pepparkakor (ginger bread) together with collegues. The glögg was enhanced with some 70% alchohol (from where I wonder) and I was told that I cannot drive after that. Well, that is ok because I don’t own a car anyway. Upon the question: ‘So how do you like it here at Virologen Katarina?’ I just looked at the pepparkakor and sauna and didn’t have to answer. No words needed, only silent comprehension.
And, before the famous fish soup composed by a collegue, is served here at Virologen I celebrate even more, and post a post here at my new site.
I cherish all the positive energy that was given me and now I feel fine. Go HSV-2!
Today is also the day that I got some very nice comments on my photo, let’s call the pic ‘Candy Art’ by MusCoT, to make it really glamorous.
I was playing bandy aggressively acccording to my fellow player (I said thank you), so I did not have time to take pics. Our team had to play again because we started off the game winning, awesome! That killed me. No pause, only blood taste in my mouth. Go team number 2! 4min games and then switch the teams. These were the longest 4min of my life. Someone suggested that we should switch players in our team number 2, because we were three girls and one guy! He he.
If you look closer you can see that the neuron, painted in pink here, projects it’s dendrites towards the adipose tissue, painted in brown here, supported by the marrow (blue) in a solid environment. Do you see also the leukocytes and fibroblasts? Amazing how it all comes down to one common number which is number 110. Herpes is lying latently in this graphic, and it too has a pink color, why it is not seen in the picture.
Tags: candy, art, herpes, work
4MIN BY MADONNA, TIMBERLAND AND JUSTIN OF COURSE.
CLEAVAGE
Don’t cleave off the wrong signal.
Beware of the Arginines (R).
My Friday lunch arm clock at the seminar about B cells something.
My mind at the seminar about B cells something.
SKY’S THE LIMIT
Today there was a beautiful sky right outside work.
Picture1a. Romantical light together with elevated amounts of clouds was seen 5hrs post dusk at Guldhedsgatan 10 in Gothenburg.
Taken by my iPhone of course, the below was edited in iPhoto on the Mac, and above in Adobe Photoshop Express on the iPhone.
You see the difference?
Picture1b. Analysis of the moment captured was made also with the software iPhoto on a Mac computer and showed the presence of different editing effects.
Picture2. At 5hrs post dusk, a modified pattern of clouds and moist in bright light was seen in the sky above Guldhedsgatan 10, Gothenburg.
Yepp.
Picture3. Increase of saturation was detected on a picture taken with iPhone 4, on the opposite side of the tram station Medicinaregatan, Gothenburg where the sun was shining in explosive amounts.
MONDAY THE 27TH OF SEPTEMBER 2010
Diary of a stressed, but satisfied, PhD student in Gothenburg.
06:44 Overslept but hurrying to get ready.
07:00 Showered, preparing for breakfast without coffee, which will be consumed at work, note at Dept of Rheumatology, because the coffee machine is better there. However, tea is better at Dept of Clinical Virology, so perhaps will change to tea soon.
07:40 Tram nr 3 and 8 to Sahlgrenska. Missed the express 104 going directly to Medicinaregatan.
08:05 Pouring coffee in the coffee room. Sweet. Meet one person I know. The rest of the room is empty. Except the cleaners who are smiling in the corridor.
08:15 Fixing some things in the lab of Rheuma.
08:30 Computer up and running and mailed and other administrative quick things taken care of.
09:30 Start writing article. Oh, I am late for this today, oh well.
10:30 Coffee time and mellanmål at Dept of Clinical Virology.
11:00 Continuation of article writing: Material and Methods expanded and modified.
Supervisor visit to office, enlightened by order status for my project.
11:55 Administrative work including sending emails (3).
12:01 Article writing: Material and Methods continued…
13:00 Writing final first version of material and methods.
14:00 Lecture by Vito Ferro from Queensland, Australia about heparan sulfate inhibitors in cancer and viral infection.
15:00 Last check up of ‘Material and methods’ materials – all is right?
19:55 Freezing in the office and reading references.
20:13 Still in office trying to concentrate.
