Unfortunately, not too much, but for some reason that song is stuck in my head like crazy. Even an hour of Radiohead couldn't get rid of it.
I finally finished reviewing that paper. (Thanks to everyone for suggestions.) We are recommending that the journal reject it. As it turns out the authors make a lot of statements about a particular protein (I'll call it protein 1) mediating a certain function, but showed no direct evidence for this. In fact, all the conclusions were drawn by comparing strain 1, which contains the gene encoding protein 1, with strain 2, a strain that does not contain protein 1. Unfortunately, the strains were not parent and isogenic mutant, they were just two unsequenced isolates. Aside from the presence or absence of this particular gene, there is no telling what other factors contributed to the differences in these strains abilities to function in this way. (One strain was awesome at it, the other was just OK.) Also, the authors made no attempt to show that protein 1 was even expressed in the conditions they were using, nor did they assess the ability of protein 1 to perform this function in vitro.
The worst part is that protein 1 is well-studied, there are parent and isogenic mutant strains lacking this gene, recombinant protein and monoclonal antibodies readily available. None of these tools were employed by the authors and as a result all that they demonstrated was that two different bacterial strains perform a particular function differently. Woohoo.
As far as the war with my cat goes, I think the balance is finally starting to tip in my favor.
First of all Sifo Dias, while still desperately trying to get into my closet at the ass-crack of dawn, has ceased trying to break the bedroom door down after being locked out. Now, all I have to do is get out of bed and shut the door, since he runs out of the room as soon as I sit up. As long as he doesn't start hiding in the room, I think I will make it.
Unfortunately my oldest cat, Shibba Dibba, has hyperthyroidism, so I need to take her to the cat radiologist where she gets injected with radio-labelled iodine. The worst part is that she must stay there until the level of radioactivity she is emitting fall below a specific level, which could take anywhere from 2-7 days. I hope it's only two days. I keep picturing her stuck in some lead cage all alone and it makes me sad. :(
I finally finished reviewing that paper. (Thanks to everyone for suggestions.) We are recommending that the journal reject it. As it turns out the authors make a lot of statements about a particular protein (I'll call it protein 1) mediating a certain function, but showed no direct evidence for this. In fact, all the conclusions were drawn by comparing strain 1, which contains the gene encoding protein 1, with strain 2, a strain that does not contain protein 1. Unfortunately, the strains were not parent and isogenic mutant, they were just two unsequenced isolates. Aside from the presence or absence of this particular gene, there is no telling what other factors contributed to the differences in these strains abilities to function in this way. (One strain was awesome at it, the other was just OK.) Also, the authors made no attempt to show that protein 1 was even expressed in the conditions they were using, nor did they assess the ability of protein 1 to perform this function in vitro.
The worst part is that protein 1 is well-studied, there are parent and isogenic mutant strains lacking this gene, recombinant protein and monoclonal antibodies readily available. None of these tools were employed by the authors and as a result all that they demonstrated was that two different bacterial strains perform a particular function differently. Woohoo.
As far as the war with my cat goes, I think the balance is finally starting to tip in my favor.
First of all Sifo Dias, while still desperately trying to get into my closet at the ass-crack of dawn, has ceased trying to break the bedroom door down after being locked out. Now, all I have to do is get out of bed and shut the door, since he runs out of the room as soon as I sit up. As long as he doesn't start hiding in the room, I think I will make it.
Unfortunately my oldest cat, Shibba Dibba, has hyperthyroidism, so I need to take her to the cat radiologist where she gets injected with radio-labelled iodine. The worst part is that she must stay there until the level of radioactivity she is emitting fall below a specific level, which could take anywhere from 2-7 days. I hope it's only two days. I keep picturing her stuck in some lead cage all alone and it makes me sad. :(
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