sources: here, here and here.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
PFA Award
sources: here, here and here.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Microb Test ಠ_ಠ
You have cloned into E. coli, a gene that may encode resistance to the antibiotic chloramphenicol. This conclusion is based on the fact that the DNA sequence of this gene has similarity to that of other choramphenicol resistance genes. Explain how you could use gene disruption analysis to determine whether the gene does indeed confer resistance to chloramphenicol in the strain of bacteria from which you cloned it.
sample answer:
(a) Transposon method: Assume the original host is resistant to chloramphenicol. A suicide plasmid carrying a transposon would be transferred cells of the host bacterium by transformation or conjugation from an E. coli culture. Let us assume that the transposon also carried a tetracycline resistance gene. The transformed celles (or the tranconjugants) would then be plated on growth medium containing tetracycline. For the tetracycline gene to survive, the transposon must hop out of the suicide plasmid into othe host DNA. Since this random event will occur in many millions of cells, some cells are likely to contain transposon insertions in the putative Cm gene. We can select for cells containing insertions in the Cm gene by plating all tetracycline resistant cultures on duplicate plates containing both tetracycline plus chloramphenicol. Cultures that do not grow in the presence of Chloramphenicol must contain insertions in DNA involved with Cm resistance. To confirm that the transposon had inserted into the Cm gene, we could use PCR technology to sequence DNA flanking the transposon to determine whether it is identical to that obtained previously (see question).
(b) Single crossover (or cointegrate method). Assume the original host is resistant to chloramphenicol. A suicide plasmid containing part of the cloned gene could be introduced into the original host by transformation or conjugation. Assume the plasmid also has a tetracycline resistance gene for selection purposes. When the transconjugants or transformants are grown on medium containing tetracycline, the only way the plasmid DNA can survive is by integrating into the host DNA. This will be facilitated by recombination between the part copy of the Cm gene and the wild type copy in the host. This event will result in integration of the entire plasmid into the host DNA, thereby creating an insertional mutation. Tetracycline resistant cultures would then be plated on medium containing tetracycline + chloramphenicol. Lack of growth would confirm that the Cm gene had been insertionally inactivated. This could be confirmed by PCR amplification of DNA encompassing the point of insertion of the plasmid DNA followed by sequencing of the host DNA flanking the insertion. If the sequence data was identical to that obtained previously (see question) then you could say that the gene encoded Chloramphenicol resistance.
(c) Allelic replacement. Assume the original host is resistant to chloramphenicol. The cloned copy of the gene would first be insertionally inactivated in E. coli by cloning a copy of another gene eg tetracycline resistance gene into the Cm gene. The construct would then be cloned into a suicide plasmid (carrying an ampicillin resistance gene for selection of the plasmid) and transferred to the host cells by conjugation or transformation. Transformants or transconjugants would be selected by plating on tetracycline medium. Tetracycline resistant colonies would then be plated separately on growth media containing tetracycline + chloramphenicol and Tetracycline + ampicillin. If a double crossover recombination event had resulted in exchange of the mutated copy of the Cm gene into the host, then no growth should be observed. This would be evidence that the Cm gene encoded chloramphenicol resistance. This could be confirmed by sequencing across the junction between the tetracycline gene and flanking DNA. Any cultures that were able to grow on Tet + ampicillin would represent cointegrates formed by single crossover recombination events. These should also be chloramphencicol sensitive.
............................
I was liek....omgbbq this is what I'm supposed to answer in the test??? I can hardly remember reading those things in the lecture notes, probably because the lecturer is so boring, or I actually miss the lectures in week 5 when I was infected by the virus...
revision, revision...uh 20% of final marks for Microbiology, seems like I need to cram like Konata :3
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
tanjobi omedeto
and recently shit things happened, I can't seem to change the template of this blog. Error messages always appeared whenever I try to upload my new template T_T
p/s: mid-sem holiday progress:
*Physiology lecture notes - finished!
*MBS Prac B/NCBI worksheet - 50% finished
*MBS Prac A Report - 50% finished
*Biochem lectures - the voice recording is sooo unclear =(
*Microb test preparation - 0%

WTF mode
Saturday, April 19, 2008
ESL series: MYM vs Inferno
ESL: DotA EMS Playday 1
Map Version: v6.48b
Mode: -XL
replay
MYM, Sentinel
MYM|Fear (Top)
MYM|LevenT (Top)
MYM|MaNia- (Middle)
MYM|H4nn1- (Roam)
MYM|Maelk (Bottom)
Inferno, Scourge
.........................................................................inF.SniFFeR- (Top)
inF.CAPSLOCK (Top)
inF.keRm (Middle)
inF.JumpEr (Bottom)
Arte (Bottom)
This match is among the highlight of the first round in ESL Group B. On the spot, most would be amazed with the lineup that MYM use: Pudge and Techies. Okay, maybe Pudge is not that weird, but Techies? The freakin Squee&Spleen the Goblin Techies? Yeah it may look a bit offensive and disrespecful to the other team, but if you look again, it may just be another revolutionary move by MYM lol. We've seen some unusual picks before, some manages to give them victory (eg: XsK using Rikimaru in some of their matches) while others failed (eg: Sweden uses Spiritbreaker in their Prime Nation match against Kazakhstan); and in this match, Techies is virtually nonexistent and almost always make the match 4 v 5 in every situation. Not because Hanni plays that bad (well if you compare with Merlini' techies, it does look bad though XD), the hero itself is generally does not suit with the current metagame. However, this handicap does not stop MYM from pulling a victory XDD
Merlini missing from the lineup certainly makes some fans disappointed, but Maelk, Fear, Mania and Lavent play really well with good teamwork to make up for the weakness in Techies.
p/s: one hilarious moment in the match happened in around 34th minute mark when Techies try to suicide on Spectre with his teammate (Tiny and Lina iirc) closeby, unfortunately Spectre manage to disperse the suicide, hurting Tiny A LOT, leaving Spectre an easy job to finish him off :3
-the moral of the story: don't try to suicide on Spectre when your allies are nearby XP
Spice and Wolf
Source: ANN
Number of episodes: 13
Spice and Wolf is by far one of the best shows I’ve watched in 2007/2008. One thing I like about this series is the theme. It’s quite rare to see an anime using economy, merchant and trading as a theme, yet manage to give fairly good impression toward the audience. This theme may be encompassed in a possibly generic storyline - a young merchant named Lawrence travels across the cities to trade items and later meet a wolf-deity girl named Horo, and together they start the journey to the north, the place where Horo belong; however what makes it interesting is the series of events happened along their journey from town to town. It’s all about profit!
Story: This area gives me a mixed bag of feeling, but overall I’m more on the positive side. It’s always a pleasure watching the banter of Lawrence and Horo in almost every episode, having some nice conversations and critical analysis on the economic stuff then ran into. Horo is undoubtedly the center of attraction in almost every episode, showing a strong characteristic and pride (that is, in her tail). Her loneliness which was depicted in several occasion were outweighed by her bright, adorable and cheerful characteristic shown whenever she spend her time with Lawrence. The voice Actor (Ami Koshimizu) did a splendid job to give Horo an outstanding characteristic. It appears that Horo voice sounds more erotic and appealing that what the subs appear, so it’ll be more enjoyable if I fully understand what the character says. As for the economic stuff, I wish they could give a better and creative means to convey them to the audience, like what Hikaru no Go did with Go board game. Sometimes the way they tell the details about the trade, the silver content and such are very linear and boring. Well at least to some extent Horo did a good job to explain certain thing in a simpler way to solve the puzzles. And lastly, it seems to me that due to the short length of this anime, sometimes the story looks compressed that some details are failed to be covered. Cloe for example, I think she plays very little role in the overall story of Spice&Wolf. She appears early in the series as
While the animation quality is not something to be proud of particularly in character animation area, the way they describe the Medieval Europe setting is very impressive, with in depth detail of building structures and environment. Character design is fairly simple, reminding me a lot to Princess Resurrection. The main characters (Horo, Lawrence, Nora and Cloe) somewhat gain the most out of it, making most of the side characters a bit disappointment with many of them lacks variation and look unappealing.
As for the music selection, I have to say that the BGM used suits very well with the scenarios and theme of the series, especially because they’re using actual instrument rather than synthesizer. While many of the tracks are not really fit to be put on your music playlist, they certainly sounds unique to Spice&Wolf and likely more recognizable, just like the unique BGM tracks in titles like Rozen Maiden, Mai Hime and Hayate no Gotoku. The opening song, Tabii no Tachuu by Kiyoura Natsumi is one of the sweetest OP I’ve listened to, and while I’m not that fond with the ending song (Ringo Biyori by Rocky Chack due to the “Engrish-ness” thus made me hard to follow the song without actually reading the lyric. But somehow I grew attached to the song after listening to the full version of the song, although if you read carefully to the lyric, it kind of does not make much sense to the story.
Overall Spice and Wolf is very enjoyable show to watch. Sure it would be boring if you didn’t enjoy the economic stuff, but for me the presence of Horo is enough to make this show interesting in its own way. In my anime dictionary, I would normally give this one a 10 out of 10 rating, but considering some weaknesses that this series posses, I would give this 8.5/10. I hope with that kind of ending shown in the final episode, it will open an option for second season, which I would be more than happy if it really comes out.
Spice&Wolf OP: Tabi no TachuuSpice%Wolf ED: Ringo Biyori
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Secret Ambition
Artist: Mizuki Nana
Title: Secret Ambition
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS OP Single
Romaji
Mune ni yadoru atsuki suisei wa hajimari no kodou he
Furueru yubi nigirishimete shizuka ni negai wo kometa
Usukumatte nigerarenai kako kara tobi dashitaiyo
Tatoe kiesou na wazuka na hikari datte
Oikaketai ano hoshi no you ni
Subete ukeire sou, dokomademo takaku
Ginga wo mau tenshi no sasayaki
Tashikana kioku wo tadotte
Korekara kitto umareteku shinjitsu he no tobira
Donna tsumetai kurayami ni shibararete itemo
Boku wa shiritai kara kesshite tomaranai
"Nakusumono wa nanimonai" to chiisana kata wo dakishime
Kizutsuketeta itakutemo tsurakutemo modoranai kara
Ima wo kaetakute muchuude kakeru keteta
Demo, kitsukeba daijyoubu dayo
Itsudemo kimi ga tonaride waratteta
Sora ni ochita tsurugi no shizuku ni mihateru omoi wo kasanete
Soba ni aru yasashii ondo ni mada furerarezuita
Sono yokogao ni hontou wa kokoro hodo kitai
Boku wa shitteru kara kesshite hanarenai
Mamoritai to hajimete kanjita
Ashita heto tsuzuku kono basho
Mai agare bokutachi no yume hitori janai I don't forget
Tenshi no sasayaki tashi kana kioku wo tadotte
Korekara kitto umareteku shinjitsu he no tobira
Donna tsumetai kurayami ni shibararete itemo
Boku wa shiritai kara kesshite tomaranai
...........................................
kanji
胸に宿る 熱き彗星は 始まりの鼓動へ…
震える指握りしめて 静かに願いを込めた
うずくまって逃げられない過去から
飛び出したいよ
たとえ消えそうな僅かな光だって
追いかけたい あの星のように
すべて受け入れ そう、どこまでも高く…
銀河を舞う Diamond dust‐天使の囁き‐
確かな記憶を辿って
これからきっと生まれてく 真実へのトビラ
どんな冷たい暗闇に縛られていても
僕は知りたいから決して止まらない
「失くすものは何もない」と小さな肩を抱きしめ
傷つけてた 痛くても辛くても戻らないから…
自分‐今‐を変えたくて夢中で駆け抜けてた
でも、気づけば「大丈夫だよ」
いつでも君が隣で笑ってた
空に落ちた月剣‐つるぎ‐の雫に
見果てぬ想いを重ねて
傍にある優しい温度にまだ触れられずいた
その横顔に本当は心解きたい
僕は知ってるから 決して離れない
守りたいと初めて感じた
明日へと続くこの場所
舞い上がれ僕たちの夢 1人じゃない
I don't forget
Diamond dust‐天使の囁き‐
確かな記憶を辿って
これからきっと生まれてく 真実へのトビラ
どんな冷たい暗闇に縛られていても
僕は知りたいから決して止まらない
.....................
english
The hot comet dwelling within my heart beats toward a new beginning
My shaking fingers, grasping upon the silent wish
Cowering, not wanting to flee from the inescapable past
I want to do it all at once
Even if it is merely a fading, faint light
I want to chase after it, just like that star
Accepting everything, no matter how high it is
Dancing throughout the galaxy, diamond dust is the angel's whispers
Perusing these certain memories
The door to truth which will definitely be born now
No matter what kind of cold darkness binds me
Because I want to know, even death won't stop me
"I lost something, something and nothing" hugging a small shoulder
Because my feelings hurt a lot, but I could not turn my hand back without difficulty
I begin to change now
However, I want to feel "safe"
You will forever be my neighbor, smiling
The sky fell onto the sword, dripping down[1]
Once more, the thoughts are incomplete
Besides, there was tender warmth when I was touched
There was truth in that profile, I wanted you to unwrap my heart
I want to hold onto that first impression
Tomorrow, I will continue to be exhausted here
Our dream will fly high. it's not one person
I don't forget
The angels talk of diamond dust
I wonder if you follow a certain memory
The door to truth that will definitely be born now
No matter what kind of cold darkness binds me
Because I want to know, even death won't stop me
Translation Notes:
The extra words in "-" like -surugi- and -tenshi no sasayaki- in the kanji lyrics are how to pronounce the previous word(s), 月剣 and Diamond dust respectively, much like the hiragana/katakana text over kanji. That being the case, these words are not repeated in singing, nor do you hear Diamond dust in English anywhere in the song.
self-translated
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
[DotA]XcN fills missing spot in EMS
One spot was left empty in Group B of the ESL Major Series Season II DotA league.
A lot of people have expected it to be filled by Virtus.Pro, which is one of the most successful DotA clans to date.
The replacement team however, is far from anyone has expected. XcN, the best Indonesian team, will be the one filling the empty Group B spot.
Antony "therogue" Seedhouse, the head admin of the tournament, mentioned that he has invited a lot of teams such as VP to join, but either said no or did not reply to the invitation.
XcN was chosen because they have shown the initiative to be part of the tournament. XcN wanted to play the Asian qualifiers, however that section of the Major Series suffered no sign-ups.
XcN is the only Asian team in this tournament. They will be facing teams such as Meet Your Makers, The Elder Gods and Coup de Grace in their group.
source: gotfrag, MYM.
ESL Major Series Group Stage and updates
........................
Anyway, GLHF to XcN in this tournament =)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Man Utd 08/09 away kit?
source
rumor has it, whether it's true or not the jersey looks cool anyway (albeit a bit plain as always), even though it looks a bit like USA international jersey.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Nanaka†Crash!!!
main site
mirror
Sometimes it's pretty fun to play, just to kill some times. I haven'tfully explore the mechanic of this game, so far I only manage to get around 2000+m. I've seen people scored as high as 9000+m though.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
International Saimoe League 2008
For unknown reason Anime Saimoe is unlikely to happen for 2008, but in turn, we have a league format Saimoe taking place of the traditional Saimoe. Dubbed as International Saimoe League, this is where 64 popular characters who ranked the highest in previous Japanese and Korean Saimoe will battle each other in league format. The top 16 characters in the league will qualify for the playoff with double elimination format.
Main page for infos, schedules and results: International Saimoe League 2008
The characters qualified for the league can be found in the character profile page.
- 1. Suiseiseki (Rozen Maiden)
- 5. Fate Testarossa (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)
- 6. Yuki Nagato (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
- 8. Nagi Sanzenin (Hayate no Gotoku)
- 9. Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night)
- 10. Shinku (Rozen Maiden)
- 12. Maria (Hayate no Gotoku)
- 13. Rika Furude (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
- 14. C.C. (Code Geass)
- 16. Eruruu (Utawarerumono)
- 17. Rena Ryuguu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
- 18. Tamaki Kousaka (ToHeart 2)
- 19. Chikaru Minamoto (Strawberry Panic!)
- 20. Nanoha Takamachi (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)
- 21. Tsukasa Hiiragi (Lucky Star)
- 22. Mikuru Asahina (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
- 23. Kagami Hiiragi (Lucky Star)
- 24. Louise Francoise (Zero no Tsukaima)
- 25. Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)
- 26. Nayuki Minase (Kanon 2006)
- 27. Souseiseki (Rozen Maiden)
- 28. Konoka Konoe (Negima!?)
- 29. Aruruu (Utawarerumono)
- 30. Evangeline (Negima!?)
- 31. Alice Caroll (Aria)
- 32. Sakura Matou (Fate/Stay Night)
- 33. Mion Sonozaki (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
- 34. Tsuruya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
- 35. Touka (Utawarerumono)
- 36. Yuno (Hidamari Sketch)
- 37. Ayumu Nishizawa (Hayate no Gotoku)
- 38. Nodoka Miyazaki (Negima!?)
- 39. Tamao Suzumi (Strawberry Panic!)
- 41. Konomi Yuzuhara (ToHeart 2)
- 42. Vita (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)
- 43. Sayuri Kurata (Kanon 2006)
- 44. Yue Ayase (Negima!?)
- 45. Yuri Hitotsubashi (Kamichu!)
- 46. Sakura (Tsubasa Chronicles)
- 47. Kyon's Sister (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
- 48. Kyou Fujibayashi (Clannad)
- 49. Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad)
- 50. Horo (Spice and Wolf)
- 51. Saber (Fate/Stay Night)
- 52. Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad)
- 53. Setsuna Sakurazaki (Negima!)
- 54. Tomoyo Sakuragami (Clannad)
- 55. Sakura Kinamoto (Cardcaptor Sakura)
- 56. Hanyuu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
- 57. Fuko Ibuki (Clannad)
- 58. Ayu Tsukimiya (Kanon)
- 59. Matsuri Shihou (Sola)
- 60. Ryou Fujibayashi (Clannad)
- 61. Shiori Misaka (Kanon)
- 62. Tamaki Kawazoe (Bamboo Blade)
- 63. Chiaki Minami (Minami-ke)
- 64. Kiri Komori (Zayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
Currently Matchday 6 has just ended yesterday.
*credit to Ichigo-Sora for ISML banner.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
April Rant
First, Microbiology lectures. The current lecturer (Dr. Connor Thomas) makes me yawn so much that I "have" to skip his lecture :3 The number of his lectures that I attend are countable (once a week, sometimes I skip the whole lecture in the week). So a lot of lecture notes need to be revised, and to top it all, I got an important test coming right after the break, cumulating 20% of total marks for Microbiology subject.

And finally Biochem. I loooooove Lynn Roger lectures, so I never missed any of her lecture (except in week 5 when I was sick). I've done with the test on Friday, as well as the online test. So nothing much to worry about this subject.
So what left is MBS Prac A and B. There's a whole load of reports need to be submitted after the break, particularly the Bacterial Technique, Recombinant DNA and Enzyme Kinetics. While I haven't finished analyzing the uv gel photo for both DNA ligation and recombination. Same goes for Prac B, a lot of works need to be done on NCBI database and Jalview.
So here I am, while having this free time, writing this piece of shit. I won't be able to play on GG-Client for the past several weeks because my connection become unstable whenever I play and disconnected halfway through. So frustrating...
So for the time being, I'm Cabal-ing :3
p/s: lately I'm addicted with a lot of songs from Mizuki Nana :3
Galneryus - ALSATIA
Band: Galneryus
Title: Alsatia
Mnemosyne OP
We'll find the path to Alsatia
We'll lose if we don't fight now
No one can play in the sculpture garden
Petrified faces are watching in the dark
Assimilate yourself in this mystical world
That's all you have to do
Day after day, you got tragic situation
Night after night, you tried to break the wall
Fortune is calling you in this mystical world
You'll find a way
Cloud in the mists of time
You must take your aim and play your game
Emotional neglect is the price that you must pay to your desire
It's Alsatia
You just believe in the lie to forget the awful truth
You know the disturbance never ends
There is no reason to take this process
Resentment will change into sweet desire
You'll run for your life in this mystical world
Beware of the night
Crawl in the mists of time
You must face the wall of the hate
Eternal vigilance is the price that you must pay to your desire
It's Alsatia
You just go against the law, fall into a delusion
You know the distrubance never ends
Cloud in the mists of time
You must take your aim and play your game
Emotional neglect is the price that you must pay to your desire
It's Alsatia
You just go against the law, fall into a delusion
You know the distrubance never ends
It's Alsatia
You just believe in the lie to forget the awful truth
You know the disturbance never ends
We'll find the path to Alsatia
We'll lose if we don't fight now
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Seriously I didn't expect this song to be a full english song, until I carefully listen to the song and found the lyric.