Constantinos Lipsos

For all times sake i am writting this diary in case that someone wants to see how i have been! The exams were over and i got a first grade for the first year. Darn it to membranes and receptors because i could have gotten an even greater mark. I am currently in cyprus and i am having a blast time! i am with many many friends i got tanned and soon i am going to greece! have a nice rest of the summer! ;p - Constantinos Lipsos

Hello. Next year we are going to be using Google+ in place of friendfeed. I've sent an invitation to your Leicester email address so you can join us. - Dr Alan Cann

Well done on the first, Constantinos! You deserved it. :) - Zainab Chaudhary from iPhone

In this article four protein targets with which drugs interact. These are enzymes, membrane carriers, ion channels and receptors. The better understanding of drug-receptor interactions helps to consider therapeutic decisions in clinical practice. The terms associated with drug -receptors are the agonists: drugs that mimic endogenous ligands(partial or full), antagonists: drugs that block the effect of agonists(reversible competitive, irreversible competitive and non-competitive). Also in the article the reader becomes familiar with the terms efficacy(ability of the drug to activate a receptor and produce a response), potency(combination of both the affinity and efficacy) and affinity(a measure of how well a drug binds to a receptor. I chose this article as it closely associated with the lecture we had on thursday on #MB1004 on drugs and receptors and the classwork, which were both very interesting - Constantinos Lipsos from Bookmarklet

I think this is the last entry for this year!! i am not sure though! i will check it out later!! So this week was one of the best again!!! the schedule was so nice that i actually enjoyed it! I took my grades in #MB1031 which were more than satisfying for me! I also got the microbiology booklet and the essay on microbiology #BS1009 on which i worked so hard. A 65% was not i had in mind but it's not that bad after all. This week i enjoyed the most the #MB1004 membranes and receptors classwork! I did all of my questions and actually understand everything! That tutor we had was one of the best!!! Only 2 things left to finish with the first year assignments! The first one is the scientific report on #MB1031 at which i am halfway through!!! and the presentation on genes which i am starting on tomorrow;p Enjoy guys! - Constantinos Lipsos

LOL I'm still here doing it, I'm just not stressing so much. Thank you! - Pardina Samson-Fessale

Well done Lipsos. Those are a good set of marks. In addition, I must say it is rather bold of you displaying your marks on Frienfeed. Not many people would do that. - Abdulkhaliq Alsaadi

@abd: yea i am sure. - Constantinos Lipsos

In this article an experiment was carried out on Macaca mulatta to show that muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms play a central part in mediating the effect of attention in V1. What they basically wanted to do was to study the cellular mechanisms behind the changes in recpeticve field location and sizes. These changes are caused by attention. In order to do so the monkeys had to perform a task that needed top-down spatial attention. What they observed, using iontrophoretic pharmacological analysis, is that the receptive field of the V1increase fire rates. Additionally they observed that attentiona modulation was increased when acetylcholine was given to the monkeys. This article is related to #MB1004 whereby each group had to prepare 2 presentations on acetylcholine and noradrenaline - Constantinos Lipsos from Bookmarklet

This week has been so productive. My group and I finished the presentation on #MB1004 and presented it quite properly i could say. Also we finished the poster for #MB1031 so early that it felt so relieving not to have it up my mind. Too bad the poster presentation is cancelled i guess as we started preparing for it. I enjoyed so much the practical of #BS1006 . It was the best practical i have ever done since the beginning of the whole academic year. Firstly as it lasted only for 2 hours and secondly as it was so fun and so nice. That one i liked! I also recieved the handbook forr medical sciences , in which i need to choose courses for next year. Well this is more complicated than it seems as many other decisions are involved. Decisions that i am not going to discuss on friendfeed. I have seen my tutor for that. I have only the scientific report 2 to finish along with the report for the physiology practical and i am done!!! For now i am off to LONDON!!!! cya - Constantinos Lipsos

This week was the best week i have ever had since the beginning of the whole academic year! I had lectures only on friday as i was away the other 4 days to greece. I went to see my mother due to some family issues. But at the end i had so much fun. The good thing is that i finished my microbiology essay and handed it in. I also finished with all the other homework i had to do. Now i am back and i have a presentation which thank god i have finished, i have a poster due to 22nd of march and a scientific report due to 31st of march and i am basically done! The funny thing was that when i came back from my trip i went straight away to Dr. Kramer to give me what i needed for the last report we had to do for #MB1005 and i handed it in the very next day. I am having a nice weekend with my brand new laptop. Forgot to mention they stole my laptop while i was in greece. just my luck . - Constantinos Lipsos

It has been likewise for a number of reasons which I have outlined in MyDiary. - Abdulkhaliq Alsaadi

According to the article a-methyltyrosine is a competitive inhibitor to tyrosine hydroxylase. It has been used to inhibit sympathetic neurotransmission. At stressful conditions such as exercise or exposure to cold there is an increase in sympathetic stimulation and there is an increase in synthesis of norepinephrine. A-methyltyrosine inhibits the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase which catalyses the reaction of tyrosine to L-DOPA which will be later converted to norepinephrine. This article is related to #MB1004 where we had to make presentations for both norepinephrine and acetylcholine - Constantinos Lipsos from Bookmarklet

In this article it mentions the importance of chemoautotrophic bacteria. Their ecological molecular and physiology understanding in order to be able to see how many other organisms are dependent on these microorganisms. The reason why these bacteria are so important is due to their ability to fix carbon dioxide with chemical energy deriving from oxidation of inorganic molecules. The fixation procedure occurs via Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. This cycle is mainly controlled by three enzymes; ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, phosphoribulokinase and sedoheptulose bisphosphatase. I chose this article as it is related to the lecture of #BS1009 where we said about chemoautotrophes as one of the four nutrition categories. This article is also related to the essay of microbiology - Constantinos Lipsos from Bookmarklet

The 4th week for this semester is officially over! Once again i did not enjoy the practical of #BS1009. There are so many experiments that need to be done, that's absurd. We do not know which experiments must be complete and which are left uncompleted from previous weeks.Thank god this is the last one and we are finally over with it. Genes practical was a bit more fun this time, maybe because half of the practical we were writing down the worksheets rather than doing any practical work! What can i say? maybe i am not for practicals..i mean i've always knew that i was keen on the theoretical part. I am currently doing my essay on microbiology and then i need to make a plan for the essay on #MB1031 on Monday. I am a bit stressed about that one but i guess i have to deal with it. My Spanish lessons are becoming even more interesting. Muy bien!! - Constantinos Lipsos

According to the article the study of the flu genomes can help scientists to predict which strain of flu will be more active in a given year. This is achieved by studying a mutation or genetic change to a pair called epistatic pair. This is very important as scientists will be able to know which strain of flu will be most active in advance and therefore its treatment will be more effective. The epistasis is the combination of the mutation with the genetic background of the organism ( e.g a protein with a mutation ). A mutation in one half of the epistatic pair may cause no harm and act as a warning of a mutation that is about to occur to the other half. This article is related to #BS1009 where we recently studied about flues and the impact they have on economy and on public health. - Constantinos Lipsos

This week caused me so much headache, i do not know why but it did. First of all the microbiology practical was the most difficult one because there are so many experiments we have to do simultaneously that i lost track of what i was doing. I ended up being the last person leaving from the laboratory just because i had to stay there do the normal flora test and write the observations for the pasteurization test. Not only that but my Spanish lesson was cancelled the next day. I really wish it did not because i really wanted to go. I do not think of it as eating up my free time because it is something that i like and enjoy even if i am in the class for 3 hours. The top was on Thursday when i got to the practical of Genes where i got so much headache and plus i could not distinguish between the female and male mutant flies. I really got so irritated that i stopped trying and left my partner did it while i was doing the transformation test. I killed all the flies in the alcohol later;p - Constantinos Lipsos

i read the experiment .. the thing was that whenever i place my eyeball in that microscope, i just got headaches ..i could not stand the flies, move them, turn them around, and just see whether they are female or male only because all looked male to me.. i just could not do it..i know you might say if you have negative attitude that's how it goes.. but i did not enjoy the practical at all.. any of the 6 practicals i have done so far.. - Constantinos Lipsos

According to the article, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered the gene responsible for the 90% of alzheimer cases. The name of the gene is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)and is responsible for learning and memory function and is required for the normal function of the brain. According to the study a variation of that gene, called val66met was located on healthy people. They used two methods either MRI or DTI to measure the physical structures of the brain and it was found that this gene affects brain connections and structures, which deteriorate during the initial phase of alzheimer. Therefore the scientists can now use combined genetics with the brain imaging for the early detection of the disease and thus its better treatment. This was not possible in the past because in order for the scientists to detect alzheimer they needed the first symptoms to arise.I chose this article as it is closely related with the lecture on alzheimer on #MB1031. - Constantinos Lipsos

Really interesting.. - Persefoni Ioannou

Week 2 is officially over. This time i went to the Genes tutorial normally without any complications! Well this week the only lecture i enjoyed the most is genes and medicine, i think because is the subject i am interested in the most. I enjoyed every lecture and found the practical once again . Even the report i had to write afterwards was not tough to complete. I completed the excel test but the second one is very tough so most probably i am going to the help session tomorrow ..! The only course that caused me trouble was membranes and receptors , i really got confused with all those pumps and exchangers but i guess i need to read it through again and at the next session have my questions answered.I am taking on spanish lessons every wednesday from 5 - 8 pm . I do not mind filling up my wednesday, the only day i am free, because it is very interesting and i have always liked spanish! - Constantinos Lipsos

I chose this article because it is related to my presentation on #MB1030. My presentation was on Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and that nowadays it is an alternative to prenatal diagnosis (PND). This is due to the risks and timeframe associated with PND. Both amniocentesis and chronic villus sampling are invasive and there is a chance of fetal damage or miscarriage. According to this article scientists in Hong Kong have discovered a new method, non - invasive for multiple fetal genetic disorders compared to the other two which focus on one genetic disorder. This new method scans the whole genome of the fetus using cell - free fetal DNA found in mother's blood. Father's DNA was also required. After a long procedure they finally managed to add the genome map inherited from the mother to the one inherited by the father thus assembling the map of the fetal genome - Constantinos Lipsos

Phew the first week is finally over! I think this week was difficult not because of the landslide of the lessons we had but mainly because we have been trying to adapt to this new schedule, which is harder than the one we had on the first semester. I think i can cope! The introduction of another 3 hours practical for the MB students i think was the hardest for me but i enjoyed both practicals. Especially the practical for microbiology #BS1009 was great, the streaking in the agar was so interesting! The use of microscope was a bit boring but i guess we have to learn everything about microscopes since we will be using it in our next years' practicals! I got to see bacteria and the gram positive and negative! It was so interesting! i wish we did not have to do the worksheets and i would love that subject!! I am getting my hopes up that the next practicals are going to be even more interesting. I even had work for home .. guess at which subject ? The #MB1031. That's all for this week guys - Constantinos Lipsos

:)) - Persefoni Ioannou

On today's lecture in #BS1009 Dr. Heaphy mentioned the Tree of life. He talked about the universal ancestors and that they were divided into 3 domains; Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Theses consist the origin of life and which, million years later, will develop into animal and plants. My choice is based on the fact that this article is related to the lecture and specifically with the Archaea, one of the 3 major domains. According to the article the Archaea evolved billion years ago but they were seen for the first time 130 years ago. Nevertheless they were introduced in the tree of life 20 years ago. What the scientists have learnt so far is about their cellular components i.e about their organelles and their abundance. They have also discovered functions which play an important role in the evolution of life. Although there have been many new findings about Archaea there are many things yet to be found. - Constantinos Lipsos

Really interesting.... !!! - Persefoni Ioannou

Good luck :) - Neelam Dave

thnx neelam!!!!! i can do this!!! ;p - Constantinos Lipsos

+ going back home and starting those 4 weeks of solid revision? :P - Zainab Chaudhary

Yeap you are right.. Only thinking of it makes me sick! - Constantinos Lipsos

I chose this article particularly because laughing describes me the most as a person. According to the article laughing is important for social communication. It involves visible facial movements accompanied with auditory signals. The scientists wanted to see how visual laughter enhances the audibility of laughter. By conducting an experiment they proved that visual laughter along with auditory laughter made it more audible as the auditory signal was very strong. On the other hand the auditory signal coming from just the auditory laughter without the visual laughter was much lower. - Constantinos Lipsos

Propably one of the best articles i have ever posted!! I read it over and over and is so nice!! - Constantinos Lipsos

Good job! I really like you being enthusiastic - Philip Roussos

thanks guys!! ;p how did you go? - Constantinos Lipsos

Well done! I thought it was quite hard too. - Pritesh Mistry

i think this one has been the hardest so far! - Sarah Williams

i think thats to be expected now though! the maths on BS1010 is also getting harder! - Sarah Williams

we will get our water essay back in the next tutorial for #BS1015, am not sure when are we going to get the cancer genomics essay. :) - Fatma Alzahra AlMahrouqi

thanks!! it was about time to get our essays on water back! - Constantinos Lipsos

I'm trying to, but i also need to do the practical write-up, there's just too much to do! :/ - Sami Kimyongur

Yeap agree!! There are so many to do that I feel that 24/7 is not enough - Constantinos Lipsos from iPhone

I didn't do my best too :((( ... I agree that concentration is important when dealing with maths... If not concentrated you do mistakes on easy questions :((( ... Also ckecking your answers more than one times is important :)) ... - Persefoni Ioannou

I think is because xmas is coming! - Constantinos Lipsos

#BS1010 ? - Thomas Webber

I chose to post this article because it is related to my #MB1030 lecture on the beginning of the semester on cancer and on my recent essay on genomics and cancer. This article gives me a better understanding of how cancer begins to develop. According to this article some certain phosphorylation events that occur during cell mitosis may cause the asymmetric segregation of the chromosomes. Also in the asymmetric cell division are involved centrosomes and microtubules. As a result we have stem cells with a different number of chromosomes than the parent cell. This cell will later turn into a cancer cell but the exact mechanism by which it becomes a cancer cell is still unknown. - Constantinos Lipsos

Another little thing to remind you- mock test on Chemistry next week .:) - Paskuwal Kosalie Mendis

yes. sorry it's for #BS1015 - Paskuwal Kosalie Mendis

This articles mentions the importancee of markers which are associated with diseases and their ability to predict the phenotype. This article is closely related to my essay in #MB1030 as tumor markers which are genes that are over - expressed in tumor cells. These markers are used to indicate the presence of cancer as well to follow its response to a certain therapy. As it says in the article due to the limitations of the current genetic models and statistical techiniques is difficult to find which genes are the most suitable for markers and alternative more efficient approaches must be used. - Constantinos Lipsos

It wasnt hard at all! - Constantinos Lipsos

Well done! - Zainab Chaudhary