Formaldehyde

Those who have worked/working in labs hates this useful chemical. This compound is used for embalming or fixing tissues for H & E purposes.

Basically, it is an organic compound from the Aldehyde family, its systematic name is Methanal.

Formaldehyde preserves or fixes tissue or cells by cross-linking of primary amino groups in proteins with other nearby nitrogen atoms in protein or DNA through a -CH2- linkage.A solution of 4% formaldehyde fixes pathology tissue specimens at about one mm per hour at room temperature.

Formaldehyde solutions are used as a fixative for microscopy and histology, although the percentage formaldehyde used may vary based on the method of analysis. Additionally, the methanol used to stabilize formaldehyde may interfere with the ability to properly fix tissue or cells and therefore commercial formaldehyde preparations are available that are packaged in glass ampules under an inert gas to prevent the use of contaminating methanol for stabilization. Although formaldehyde solutions are commonly used as a biological preserving medium, usually for smaller specimens, it usually just prolongs the decaying process.

Several European countries restrict the use of formaldehyde, including the import of formaldehyde-treated products and embalming. Starting September 2007, the European Union banned the use of formaldehyde due to its carcinogenic properties as a biocide (including embalming) under the Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC).Countries with a strong tradition of embalming corpses, such as Ireland and other colder-weather countries, have raised concerns. Despite reports to the contrary,no decision on the inclusion of formaldehyde on Annex I of the Biocidal Products Directive for product-type 22 (embalming and taxidermist fluids) had been made as of September 2009.

Mice

As some of u know that I am using mice for my research project. The cool thing is I am not using the normal mice that u can buy in the pet shop or the boring strains such as Bab/c or Wistar but NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ or NSG for short.


The beauty of this strain is it has no T cells, B cells nor NK cells that help to regulate immuno response towards invading cells therefore its perfect for transplantation of organs, xenografs and etc. Also it does not leak when it grows old unlike Nude Mice.

The downside is they are a bit aggressive when handle and have a weird reaction towards ether or G.A. They will sort of run around the cage avoiding it unlike other strains which are more docile when under G.A.

These white mice are so beautiful and fluffy when they mature, u will be begging to make coats out of them when u touch the fur.

Oh yeah, they are fast and consistent breeders, a simple setup set needs 2 dames and 1 sire which can be kept for 5 cycles or more. The genotype stays true for each generation.

Counting

I was calculated the budget for my research when I realized that buying a house is more profitable than doing masters.

Mice = rm 500 x 200 = rm 100 000

Compound S and its brothers: rm 10 000

Compound Y and its brothers: rm 5 000

Compound G: rm 2 000

Misc=rm 30 000

Total:rm 147 000

Can anyone tell me where to get rm 150 000 for my research?

a funny rejection letter

As u know that I have been actively applying for work there and here. So there are bound to have a few rejection emails from the company.

But there is one company's letter that I find to be weird.

It started with "We are sorry" plus a bit of background story of why the had to reject me and on what basis they picked the future employees and then,they ended with "Since you are not a fresh grad therefore ur automatically rejected"

Don't get me wrong, I do love rejection letters as they tell me where am I standing but being a fresh grad isn't a good reason to reject someone,just imagine if every company thinks the same way,what are fresh grads to do? Sell themselves at Lorong Haji Taib?

but again that isn't a bad idea..kan?

I'm just rm 50 for a blow...

BLC in Kuala Lipis

Over the weekend, I went to Kuala Lipis to catch Mozzies,actually its at Mela (45 min from Kuala Lipis) & Padang Tunku( 20 mins from Kuala Lipis).

We stayed in a Hotel called Jelai,Kuala Lipis which is around 1

hour from Bentong. We arrived on Friday night,was surprised to see a KFC in town cos i

ts quite hulu. Rested the whole night and went wandering the next night since there is nothing to see or go, we left the hotel for breakfast,lunch and the occasional dinner.

On Saturday evening, we went to Padang Tunku to set up light traps to catch mozzies. A light trap consist of a bulb, Co2 box, net trap and fan (see below).

Then we went to Mela for BLC (Bare leg catch). Basically,we rolled up our pants and exposed our legs for the mozzies to bite,then we'll trap them using a vial which is then stuffed with cotton wool to prevent the mozzies from escaping.

During the 1st night, we stayed at the from 6 pm- 6 am and caught about 500 +/- mozzies from various genus such as Masonia, Aedes, Culex, Anopheles and Armigeres.

During the 2nd and 3th night,we stayed at the site till midnite.

Erm,going to a ulu place is normal to see some unwanted guests especially when the site is on someone's land, I think I saw a few "guardians",luckily they were just watching and didn't disturb except for one nite,when we were a bit boisterous.

And of cos,when we were there,our daily meal consisted of ikan patin, so yummy and delicious and not fatty at all. I also had a taste of jungle fowl. The bird is kinda muscular.

Also spotted a few cute lengcai mechanics and 1 or 2 of our kind there.

Last Month of intern:Office politics

Imagine that ur in a dept with 5 heads, 6 deputies, 20 assistants, 30 junior assistants...and ur just a vermin,a piece of dirt, a lowly intern whose main job is to suck knowledge from all 61 members of d dept that ur assigned to by the HR. Ur mission is to survive 4 5 mths and report back to the HQ when ur tenure is over...

How boleh survive ke x?

After a few mths, u discover that all 5 heads have their own agenda and not all are frens,the rest are after ur ass cos ur a raw jewel that can be shaped by their ideologies, each group wants u to their comrade in arms,each wants to ur untainted blood to bleed for ideology,their manifesto. All are watching u to make d smallest blunder so that they can be delighted in letting u be a part of the other group;their loss will not be another's gain.

U in the other hand want to preserve ur own way,ur right of being,ur principles from being poison,in othe words, u want to be u, u seek neutrality with others,projecting ur own shine without dimming the others. U move carefully,preserving ur ties with everyone without hurting the rest.

An impossible mission? After all that u went thru, nothing is impossible anymore

Anopheles

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Diptera

Family: Cullicidae

Tribe: Anophelini

Genus: Anopheles

As u can see that Anopheles belongs to a different subfamily if compared to Aedes. There are 460 species of Anopheles and 100 of it could transmit Plasmodium spp which causes Malaria, they also could transmit other parasites which as W.Bancrofti or B.Malayi which causes filariasis in humans.

In Msia, we can find A.maculatus and A.dirus. Both are able to transmit Plasmodium spp. They prefer to lay eggs in natural setting unlike its cousin,Aedes. The unique feature of its eggs is that they have floats on either side. The adults would lay the eggs singularly and directly on water.

The larvae of Anopheles don't have a siphon and often rests parallel to the water surface unlike its Cullicinae cousins. Larvaes are found in fresh/salt-water marshes,mangrove swamps, rice fields and etc.

The adults will rest with their abs sticking up to air. They are nocturnal creatures.

Their life span is around 1-2 weeks.

ps: no citation is needed as this is just a general intro on the genus.

Help needed

Hi,readers, u know I love u all very much and would help u when ur in a pinch or would defiantly fight for u. Ergo, I would really be happy if u can do this for me. Don't worry,I'm not asking u to be a martyr...just going to ask u to like a page in facebook

Its a project that I'm going work for in Sept 2011. Its about determining the normal range for full blood count,hemoglobin A2 and F,ferretin and soluble transferin receptor and hopefully we could treat blood related diseases better in Malaysia.

This is the link. Pls like it and do ur part for the country.

Thank u

XOXOXOXO

Ichi

Common phrases at work

Short version: SV

Original Version: OV

Sentence No 1

SV: Are u going to suck it for me?

OV: Areu going to aspirate the mozzies for me?

Sentence No 2

SV: Isolating adult/pupae

OV: putting a single pupae into a vial/ separating the adults into male/female

SV: Homo giler

OV: The male mozzies are mating

SV: Combo attack

OV: Female Albos (Ae. albopictus) are bitting me,quick gimme the racket

SV: racket

OV: using stun rackets to kill mozzie

SV: when are u going to bloodfeed?

OV: When are u going to preparing for Ovi

SV: Ovi

OV: Oviposition period

A researcher's life is dull,thank god I am gay

Ae.aegypti

Been working with this species for the past 2 mths de.

An intro:

Aedes aegypti aka Stegomyia aegypti aka yellow fever mosquito which is found by Linnaeus in 1762 is from Africa which is introduced to other regions by immigrants.Its a daytime mosquito,easy to breed and is ok with restricted space. It loves indoors unlike its nasty cousin,Ae.albopictus ( pain wor when bites). It breds in man-made containers like empty plastic bins & old tires,prefers semi-dirty water.

The female and the male could be differentiated from its antennae; the males' are bushy (duh?). To know whether its Ae.aegypti or Ae.albopictus,look at the markings on its head,Ae.aegypti has white markings in a form of lyre.

It has 4 stages in its life cycle (typical of Dipteran species); egg,larva,pupae and adult. It is said that the gender of the mosquito could be differentiate at the larval stage.

It is attracted to lactic acid,ammonia and Co2 (ppl who have high level of stress are often its fav.). The females suck blood while the males suck nectar.

ps: I have no life :)

1 month de

Can I say that I'm not enjoying my Li yet? Or still just haven't find the rite frequency with my supervisor? Erm.. maybe cos she is from Eve's clan which is a gender that I can't fully understand; all my life,I have been dealing with Guys. (Family is a different topic). I mean seriously why can't they say that they want A while insisting that B is right for them. Seriously, don't say sumting then change to sumting else. Women are definitely strange.

Anyway,the things that I have doing is a bit hush2 (hahahhaha) but seriously its fun+ tedious+ tiring. I wonder if I shuld continue doing it for my Msc. (erm...erm).

Oh yeah,sori for being Emo for a week plus2.. its just that sumtings happened and maybe I will be cancelling an objective from my 5 year plan. Let that person continue living in a drama. But seriously,if the world was perfect and all the stars are correctly aligned,he will be perfect for me.

Que sera sera, if its meant to be,it will be mine

2 days de

I have started my internship. So far,I have been up to my nose reading journals about mosquitoes and those which are related to its order; reduviids, papaya fruit fly and etc. I am Insectoman. I share my office with a cage full of Aedes spp. Lemme recap what happened in the last 2 days.

DAY 1

- met the head of dept,she shown 2 fingers and asked me to choose which I want.

- met my supervisor and got a stack of journals.

- read 3 journals and 2 thesis

- my fren's unit burned down

DAY 2

- read 4 journals

- learned how to differentiate the different mosquitoes that suck ur blood daily

- stare at the cage which is full of mosquitoes

Seriously, I am having a new found respect for them;fyi: the males mates with males and females and at random. THEY ARE NATURE'S CASANOVAS.

ps: can't tell u what I'm working on cos its secret,heck even I don't know what I'm doing.