Cheryl Morris - Weblogs

I’m appalled at the apparent rise of Huckabee. If there is one type of person this country does not need as President, it is someone who professes a belief that God created the earth in seven days and that evolution is a false doctrine (as reported in the Washington Post. To me, such beliefs are selling the universe and the myriad of life forms found very short. The more I read science (as I have been doing for decades), the more amazed I become at its majesty and complexity. We just don’t need such terminal beliefs as Huckabee espouses.

I’m not a heavy-duty Christmas shopper–never have been. But, this year I’m worried, as I do not see the crowds of shoppers I’ve seen in the past. I don’t shop in a lot of places, but Stanford Shopping Mall and Target in Redwood City should yield some clues. The stores are not jammed. Have the shoppers gone online or just disappeared? It is hard to tell. Personally, I favor some correction to the end-of-year madness. But so much of our economy is retail based that a vanishing customer base is worrisome. Also of concern is the number of sales. A sale around December 11th is unheard of…. until this year.

Love this sentence: “The team performed one of the largest cosmological supercomputer simulations ever, cramming 2.5 percent of the visible universe inside a computer to model a region more than 1.5 billion light-years across.”

Whole article on the simulation is interesting

If there is a story that makes me angry and sick about the war and the treatment of military personnel, it is this one about 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside

Briefly, an outstanding army reservist with rave reviews for her performance, went to Iraq. There she was subjected to some very bad treatment by a male officer. She began to suffer panic attacks which were self-medicated with NyQuil and Benedryl. Added to the stress of the treatment was the reality of the war. Things happened and Elizabeth Whiteside did not get the sleep or rest she should have; she worked seven days a week, slept in two four-hour shifts and ate one meal a day. Finally, she snapped. She fired her gun into the ceiling and it is this act as well as a self-inflicted gunshot wound that is now causing her to be charged in a criminal case for “attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier.”

The whole story in the Washington Post needs to be read. And we need to contact our members of Congress to demand intervention for this army reserve officer.

Hopefully nothing more will go amiss today. First, as I was leaving the house this morning, I noted that the printer I ordered was not the one delivered. My daughter and son-in-law had already assembled and tested it. Luckily, I found that the more expensive one I’d paid for was not the one I needed. So Staple’s fixed the charges on the order and I’m happy. Happier, actually, as the Lexmark E250d was cheaper and I got a refund.

Next muck up was on emusic. I download lots of music and today was the day for the monthly renewal of my downloads. I was looking over what was left on my account to make sure I would not lose any downloads and, somehow, managed to increase my monthly downloads another 100–which instantly showed on my account. Man, did I scurry. With a very long Save for Later list, I was able to download all before my account got another 300 downloads. Yikes. Luckily, my love of music is very broad, and many classical composers wrote a lot of great stuff. Of course, I also like Alternative, Punk, African, Middle Eastern, Nordic…. I won’t have any problems with downloads. And, it will perhaps force me to really think about ordering any more CDs, as I haven’t the space for them.

Every morning, I check the latest postings for Cassini, the Mars Rovers, Phys Org and Scientific American. I am in awe of how different the universe is from what we can/could conceive from what we can see. Recently several items have amazed me. One is water forming a floating bridge when exposed to high voltage. This is almost as eerie as liquid helium climbing a beaker wall. Then, there is the powerful, brief energy burst found that may have originated 3 billion light years from earth. Astronomers are still trying to determine what the source could be—a pair of super dense neutron stars colliding or the “last gasp” of an evaporating black hole are possible explanations. And our current understanding of DNA is proving rather primitive. There’s an amazing world out there–whether within us or outside–and it refuses reduction to simple explanations.

As the days go by and it seems less and less likely that he will be found alive–though I continue to hope. I enjoyed his adventures and have posted about them–specifically, his solo round-the-world feat. Thus, I joined the Mechanical Turk hunt for Steve. I didn’t have much time to offer in the image search, but felt his adventures had given me so much pleasure that wanted to do what I could.

I’ve flown in a small airplane up the back side of the Sierra Nevada mountains and also into the desert area around Baker, California, and know how difficult it would be if a problem–weather or mechanical–arose. There are flat areas that are possible safe landing areas, though remote. I can only hope.

Environmental factors can cause violence–crowding being one factor. However, I’d never imagined a chemical in common use until recently could also cause violence. Lead is the culprit. Rick Nevin, an economist who has studied the effects of lead for a decade, makes a compelling case that there is a relationship between lead exposure during childhood and later criminal activity.

What makes Nevin’s work persuasive is that he has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries.

It is time to review literature and statistics for lead removal and decrease in crime, and increase studies on lead/violence.

An interesting article in BBC News with 46 words that women would use, but men probably would not. There are some words here that I did not relate to: kitten heels and pomegranate. For some of us Beefeater would have a different meaning. So what are the words we use? There is an invitation to add words to the 46 listed in the article

I hit this area every morning. But, some days the new adds are overwhelming (anything over 30 pages). Now, I’ve found a new tool, a database of the new arrivals over a 30 day period. I’ve set mine to not show classical (I do download lots of classical), so you’ll need to find the correct page that shows all new arrivals.

Best of all, this database is sortable on several columns: Date Added, Artist, Album, Label, and Main Genre. Just be aware that there are likely close to 10K items to sort….

You receive a phone call at 12:30 a.m. from Istanbul from your daughter requesting you to power cycle her server …..

There is something very chutzpah-ish about the current efforts to tame a mud volcano in Indonesia. Frankly, I don’t know whether to laugh or applaud the scientists who are trying to plug it with concrete balls. Surely, they have some .

If you want more background, see this article in National Geographic News.

In late January, my 1997 Saturn was stolen. It was in great condition and relatively low mileage, so I’d not been shopping for a new car. But, when mine was not recovered within about 3 weeks, I began shopping. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, as I’m not a car buff, but I did have a list of needs: good mileage, configurable so that I can haul stuff, air conditioning, automatic, CD and ability to play iPod, good looking. While waiting for the insurance I rented a Mustang convertible and a Subaru. The Mustang I returned after about 10 days, as it was obviously built for someone bigger than I. Moving the shift lever from drive to park was difficult–it demanded larger hands than I have. Doesn’t anyone check this out? And the Subaru (a 4-door sedan) failed to light my fire, though it was a good car.

Roaming around my local Honda dealer’s lot, I found the Fit and we clicked. I loved it. Can seat 5. Has configurations to lay down front and back to haul long items (lumber, 6′), or tall camellias (raise up rear seat for tall) or stuff. Wonderful car. It Fits me!

Checking the documents at FAS, I found this one from 1998, A National Obligation: Planning for Health Preparedness for and Readjustment of the Military, Veterans, and Their Families after Future Deployments. I’ve not yet had time to read it, but I will. Here is the first paragraph from the Recommendations:

The Federal Government has an unwavering obligation to care for the health of those placed in harm’s way to defend the vital interests of the Nation. Therefore, the Federal Government must be able to respond promptly and effectively to the health needs of our military, veterans, and their families. In particular, when health problems are identified following a military deployment, plans must be in place to improve and facilitate cooperation and coordination among DoD, VA, and DHHS, as well as among other appropriate agencies of the Executive Branch. This report, prepared in response to PRD/NSTC-5, provides the first comprehensive set of recommendations designed to help ensure that this obligation is met in a manner that takes into consideration the successes and failures of past deployments.

The numerous goals, objectives, and strategies contained in the report provide a roadmap to improve the health preparedness associated with troop deployments. Each strategy recommends specific actions needed to achieve the stated goals and objectives. This chapter provides the IWG’s assessment of the major recommendations that emerged from its deliberations.

These recommendations can be divided into two main categories:

* Recommendationsdesigned to that improve coordination across DoD, VA, and DHHS on a continuous basis.; and

* Recommendations that require agencies to adopt changes that may require interagency coordination, but are more dependent on significant programmatic changes occurring within agencies.

Was anything implemented?

Ok, I’m baffled. I have mild high blood pressure and take medication for it. I also have a WrisTech blood pressure monitor. Last week I went into the clinic for a bp check and, as is usual is when I see a white coat, it was elevated. I was sent home with instructions to come back in a week with readouts from my machine. Usually, at home, my bp is much lower, when I got home it was still high - typically about 150/97. I fiddled with the monitor and its placement on my wrist and that required me to remove my wrist watch. Down went my systolic and diastolic readings by 20 points each. Whoa! So, I continued to monitor without watch on for a few days and my bp remained low. Then I put on my watch (it has a leather strap and is NOT on tight). Up went my blood pressure. After several hours of monitoring, I took off the wristwatch. Down went my blood pressure.

Some years ago, my blood pressure was very, very low and I did not wear a wristwatch. I just cannot recall when I started wearing a watch and whether it coincided with the rise in my blood pressure. I don’t understand what I have well-documented for this last week, but my watch is OFF and will remain so!

After reading danah and Molly, I got the meme bug. Here are five of mine….

1. A spectacular ski accident
Years ago, I was an avid skier who could be found at Mammoth many weekends charging up the first chair at 8:oo a.m. The winter of 1969 had been harsh. In the Los Angeles area it rained almost continuously the entire month of January. When we finally did get up to Mammoth, it was nearly unrecognizable with the heavy snowfall.

We got up early the next morning and I put on my favorite outfit, a dark green Ernst Engle pant, pullover top, and jacket. I particularly loved the jacket, as it was sufficiently long to terminate in short pants. The jacket did not “ride up your back” on ski lifts and expose you to unwelcome cold blasts of air.

We got on the number 1 chair and as I fumbled for my footrest, I suddenly realized it was not there. And, we were nearly tunneling through the deep snow. Even rocky Gravy Chute was covered with such a blanket of snow that it looked like an intermediate run. We got to the top and Bill, my husband, got off the chair. I did not. Could not. By the time the operator stopped the chair I was dangling precariously from the chair and about 8 feet off the ground. The crotch of my jacket was caught on the remnant of the footrest structure. I had to lean over – while holding on – and unfasten my skis and then a ski partrolman climbed into the chair and freed my crotch.

The most embarrassing part? I stopped the Number 1 chair!

2. Most kids, if they are lucky, go to one high school. Not me. I attended three high schools. Worse still, I was until my senior year a new classman. First, I attended a four-year high school, Fresno High, in the San Joaquin Valley. Then during summer break we moved to Long Beach where I attended a three-year high school, Woodrow Wilson. About a month into my junior year, we moved to Pasadena and Pasadena High was a two-year school. Thank goodness my parents didn’t find a one-year high school. We might have moved again.

3. I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was about 21. And, I procrastinated applying for it. I think I went through at least two learner’s permits before taking any tests. I finally got my license days before I had to begin commuting from Altadena to UCLA via Caltech. Even worse, I had paying commuters traveling with me to UCLA. Learning to drive on the Pasadena Freeway was quite an experience—narrow and many curves–and heavy traffic. While I did all right, I still remember how badly my legs ached from using the still unfamiliar gas pedal, brake, and clutch.

Why were my riders so pale? Humm, did they sense I was a novice driver?

4. After my freshman year of college, I married and went to work as well as continuing my education. Pasadena City College was and is only about four blocks from Caltech, so I took classes at PCC and then went to work at Caltech in nuclear physics as a lab assistant. During my stay at Caltech, I worked on basic particle identification with groups using emulsions, bubble chambers, and spark chambers. Later, I worked at UCLA in their nuclear physics department, which was identifying basic nuclear particles and interactions using a bubble chamber. We used digitized tables connected to an IBM 709 – yup, no transistors.

5. I heard Richard Feynman deliver There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom, his famous invitation and challenge to enter a new field of physics. It was delivered at a dinner meeting of the American Physical Society on December 29, 1959.

I was palm-napped. Someone stole my birthday present palm, a beautiful Bismark palm with blue-green leaves. So yesterday, we went back to the Palm Patch to replace it. As we had taken two cars this time, it was an opportunity to indulge in another palm as well, and a Butia capitata (Jelly Palm) was added to my son-in-law’s car load. The fruit of the Jelly Palm is edible, and, as the name suggests, can be made into jelly.

This time, until we can plant them, they are secured in the rear yard. I may even do what cycad owners do and add GPS tracking devices.

I realize that I’ve not posted much about my PhD work-in-progress. I’m still brewing-up my idea paper and, to that end, have gone through about 500 technical papers. These have been whittled to about 250 “keepers”.

A fascinating article, Meet the A-Team of stem-cell science shows the difficulty of unravelling the complexity of cancers. Not having lots of research money (no War on Cancer dollars), Canadian researchers were forced to take another approach. Stem cells.

Dr. Dirks found that that 100,000 ordinary cancer cells cannot grow a brain tumour in a mouse. But as few as 100 to 1,000 cancer stem cells can reliably give rise to the disease.

Findings also show that cancer cells are often impervious to chemo and/or radiation. Hopefully, new and better treatments will come along for patients. Meanwhile read the article and understand why “Wars on ….” don’t usually work. Cancer, poverty, drugs, terrorists ….

Oh yeah… if you don’t think stem cell research is important, even vital, you need to read the full article cited above.

Note: I am posting what is intensely personal with the hope that it might save another woman’s life.

I returned home from my 50th high school reunion in mid-October a bit tired from travel and dancing the twist and conga line. Thursday evening, I found I was spotting. That had NOT been a problem in 15 years, so a call went out to the Kaiser advice nurse the next morning before I left for work. She booked an appointment with an OB-GYN that day and I dutifully went. He didn’t think it worrisome, but sent in tissue to the pathologist. A week later, I found that I had uterine cancer. Rats. All they could tell me at that point was that the cells were well differentiated (i. e., not trying to be anything but endometrial cells), which is excellent news. He booked a referral to an OB-GYN oncologist and we discussed some options. Using progesterone to treat the high estrogen cancer was a possibility, but usually not recommended unless a woman was of child bearing age. The next option was surgery. I sure didn’t want a traditional hysterectomy with all that incision. Well, a laparascopic vaginal hysterestomy might be possible. That sounded good to me. But, I could hardly believe what I said next, “I want my ovaries gone!” Perhaps, I should explain.

In 1985, I had breast cancer (lumpectomy and radiation). My mother had at about the same age been diagnosed with breast cancer, but it had spread and she died. So, was there a family connection? We didn’t know. Mom was adopted and I have no siblings. In 2004, I had a scare that ultimately turned out to be nothing but my surgeon, bless him, referred me for genetic counselling. That process, class, counselling, getting the paperwork, drawing blood, and getting the results, took about six months. It both soothed me and left me with question marks. No, I did not have BRCA1 or BRCA2, but the result was a hedged negative as opposed to a true negative. Something had triggered cancer in mom and me. DDT? Chlorodane? Or not. During the counselling, I was told of the linkages found between BRCA1 and BRCA2 and other types of cancer - ovarian, in particular. (For men, prostate cancer.) The usual recommendations are surveillance, prophylactic surgery, risk avoidance, and chemoprevention. Ovarian cancer is a silent killer and I wanted no part it. No ovaries, no ovarian cancer, thus my choice.

I met with the OB-GYN oncologist on November 3rd and we agreed on the treatment, though he could not promise laparascopic surgery until it was under way and he could see what he was dealing with. When? The first appointment was the next Tuesday at 8:30 am; I snatched it. The basic surgery went well, though I did have a side effect from something else. I was delighted to find four tiny portholes–port, starboard, bow, and stern–instead of a hairy incision. I could have gone home the next day, had I not had the other side effect, which kept me in three days more for monitoring. Best news of all was the pathologists’ report: Grade 1, Stage A. Well differentiated and localized.

Monday, I return to work. Total time off: two weeks.

If you need more information on Genetic Testing, please check this page from the NIC