Moo

Do you remember the "Small Pox" days? When people used to have these large icky macules all over their faces? Me neither. That's because we're born after the small pox era. We owe the scientists who developed the small pox vaccine some thanks. So thank you, nerds. But what has this got to do with moo? First, the word vaccine came from the latin word "vacca" which means cow.

Flashback

Way back before the vaccines were developed, people already have ways to evade small pox. There's this technique called variolation. They make you inhale the skin scrapings from a small pox-ed individual and that's supposed to give you immunity from it. Sadly, this technique only works on immunocompetent persons.

Cow and Vaccines. 

Edward Jenner, who was an english doctor, once went to the farm to observe the hot milkmaids. He so loved the milkmaids because they have milky-smooth skins. But then he realized that these milkmaids are small pox free. So he went home, probably masturbated, and started researching. He chanced upon the work of John Fewster which says that cow pox can actually give you immunity to small pox. He met people who failed in developing a small pox vaccine from cow pox skin scrapings. He said "Maybe we need to use the pus". He looked for a cow pox infected person, collected the pus, and tested his newly developed "vaccine" on a small boy. And the rest is history!

Note: This is just my interpretation of the story.

Reference: Virology class

Here's a photo of Christopher Nolan, one of the most critically-acclaimed directors today.

The Perks of Being a Wallfower: Review.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012) is a film adaptation of a novel with the same name written  by Stephen Chbosky, also the director of the film. The book was published way back in '99 but ive just read it last december. Honestly, I didn't even know that such a book exists until i heard that a film about it was being made.

Cinematography

The movie looked nice. The colors complement the mood and emotion of the story. Nothing out of the ordinary. Common film look.

Acting

I personally think that Logan Lerman did a superb job on portraying Charlie. I didn't think he was an excellent actor until i saw this movie. He's definitely the perfect one for the job. I can't really explain it but i can feel the emotions that he's trying to deliver, like they were real. The guy who played Patrick was really nice too. Mostly he was the jolly one but when the scene requires him to be sad and down, he's fucking sad and down. When i was reading the book, though, i wasn't really picturing patrick to be that gay. But he did Patrick's character justice and added some spice. On the other hand, i was kind of disappointed with Emma Watson. Sure, she did mature as an actress. She did a couple of kissing scenes in the movie and she even let Lerman touch her boobs! But i was expecting something more. She felt very normal, very plain, and very ordinary to me.

Film

The film wasn't really that great. Well, most book-based films aren't that great. Bad parts and good parts. Some parts where Charlie was narrating something i find myself thinking of something else. Some parts looked very amateur. Some parts were really out of place, i'm talking about the timing and all. Some of the parts that i think needed to be established well were established poorly. The twist lacked explanation! If you haven't read the book, i doubt that you'd understand that part. Some good parts from the book weren't included. Mostly, the bad parts were mainly due to the the way the screenplay was written. I was prepared to call it bad but the last scene made me change my mind. That scene feels infinite. That's my favorite part and "Buddhist, I need you to smile a little bit more." was my favorite line.

Rating

3/5

If you are planning to watch this film, you might want to read the book first. Here's an electron micrograph of Campylobacter jejuni. A bacteria that causes the Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

From: http://drugline.org/medic/term/campylobacter-jejuni/

Von Gierke and Friends

I took my test this morning. I'd say i did quite good considering the fact that i haven't prepared for it that well. Also, It was pretty easy to take a guess since it was multiple choice. Anyway, i decided to write something related to that subject and i chose something that is pretty easy to understand.

Glucose Storage Diseases or GSDs are caused by a deficiency of a specific enzyme involved in the metabolism of glycogen. 

Take note that glycogen is the stored form of glucose (Glycogenenis - Glucose to Glycogen), with your liver and muscles acting as warehouses. Should your body need glucose, it would assign enzymes to break those stored glycogen down (Glycogenolysis).

There are 15 types of GSDs. Liver damage is observable in types 1, 3, 4, 6, and 9 to 0. While muscular defects are present in types 5, 7, and 9.

Types

Type 1a

• Von Gierke Disease
• Most common type of GSD
• Glucose-6-Phosphate (G6P) Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly (Liver enlargement), retarded growth, seizures, and Type 1a is also associated with lipidemia (High concentration of fats in blood)

Type 1b

• G6P Translocase deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, retarded growth, seizures, and recurrent bacterial infections.

Type 2

• Pompe Disease
• 1,4-Glucosidase Deficience
• Manifestations: Cardiomegaly (Heart enlargement), and infantile death

Type 3a

• Cori Forbes Disease
• Liver and Muscle De Brancher Enzyme Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, muscle weakness, retarded growth, and cardiomyopathy (Heart muscle weakness)

Type 3b

• Liver De Brancher Enzyme Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, retarded growth, and cardiomyopathy

Type 4

• Andersen Disease
• Brancher Enzyme Deficiency
• Manifestations: Cirrhosis (Liver scarring and abnormal liver function), esophageal varices (Varicose veins in esophagus), and ascites (accumulation of fluids in peritoneal cavity - abdomen)

Type 5

• McArdle Disease
• Muscle Phosphorylase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Myoglubinuria (Oxygen storing proteins in urine), and muscle cramps

Type 6

• Hers Disease
• Liver Phosphorylase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, and hypoglycemia (Low blood glucose)

Type 7

• Tarui Disease
• Phosphofructokinase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Muscle pain and stiffness

Type 8

• Adenyl Kinase Deficiency
• Manifestation: Urinary excretion of catecholamines 

Type 9a

• Liver Phosphorylase Kinase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, hypoglycemia, and delay in motor movement

Type 9b

• Liver and Muscle Phosphorylase Kinase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly, retarded growth, and muscle hypotonia (Low muscle tone)

Type 10

• Cyclic-Amp Dependent Kinase Deficiency
• Manifestation: Hepatomegaly

Type 11

• Fanconi-Bickell Disease
• Glucose Transporter-2 Enzyme Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hepatomegaly and rickets (Soft and distorted bones)

Type 0

• Yes, it's actually called type 0
• Glycogen Synthase Deficiency
• Manifestations: Hypoglycemic symptoms in morning and mild growth delay

And that's it, your GSDs. Here's a still of Clementine and Joel, played by Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, from "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004). I will attach a film related photo everytime I make a science-themed post, and vice versa.

Photo from: thefilmemporium.blogspot.com

Reference: Clinical Chemistry 6th Edition by Bishop, Fody, Schoeff

Genesis

I was supposed to be studying for a series of quizzes scheduled tomorrow. The battle of academics and passion commenced. But somehow the artsy side of me won. That's why i am writing right now on this blog that I've just created. It has been quite some time since i've planned to start something like this. A blog or a site where i can share my passion for movies. But i felt bad for succumbing to the temptation of arts and leaving out science. So i decided to bring them together, that way i won't have to choose.

Like the name suggests, i made this blog for both science and films. News, information, ideas, and anything i find interesting. For the love of both the field of science and the majestic world of films.
I would like to talk about something that has to do with both science and films for my first post. And that is a camera. Cameras are basic tools for photography and cinematography. They use films or memory cards to record whatever it is you want them to record. A single frame for photography or 24 frames per second for movies. The realisation that these machines were developed by using science and for the development of art leaves me in awe. If you look inside a modern day DSLR you would see stuff that work by following scientific principles. All of them work together to produce a piece of art. Also, back in the day, you would have to have your films developed and that process involves a hell lot of science too. I guess what i want to say is that science and art coexist harmoniously. They may be different when they are being taught. They may be different in books. They may be different when being practiced. But if you pay attention and you look real close, you'd know that they aren't that different.