CharonY

Well, faculty gets to see the GRE nonetheless. While there is no official limit, a very low score tends to be less desirable and chances of invitations tend to be lower. Of course, if a school is desperate to fill up spots and do not get enough, the GRE is likely not to play a significant factor at all.

That's him. Oh dear. I meant to write "regions" and "lesions" and wrote "reasons" instead. Guess my brain is in bad shape, too.

Actually I recall that someone removed quite a sizable amount of the prefrontal cortex of mice or rats without seemingly harming them in a very obvious way. However subsequent test revealed that they were deficient in quite a number of way with regards to memory function, reflexes and generally higher cognitive functions. Also there was a famous report about a guy who had a metal bar through his head due to an accident. While it did quite some damage it did not kill him. However his personality changed markedly. In other words, while large regions in the brain are not crucial to viability, they do fulfill functions.

Heh, sounds familiar. In my case basically one thing was worth it. I met my wife there. We were often the only ones still around after midnight. Health-wise we both still suffer from it. And regarding publications, it depends a lot on your field. In biophysics for instance one generally can perform experiments faster than in most branches of molecular biology, for instance (these are the fields I am most familiar with).

I dunno. I sold my soul to academia. Was on the first page of the contract, actually. It was either that or trying to get a real job with a possible future and suchalike. But it sounded cooler.

Bacteria can be nicely visualized on glass alone. The only problem can be dehydration if it is not in liquid. In liquid the resolution is usually worse (due to the dampening effect of the water). But it is great to visualize certain structures, if they are crystalline enough (so no EPS I am afraid). Or while you are at it you can also visualize DNA strands or proteins (if big enough like e.g. flagella). And considering the resolution AFMs are not that expensive anymore. Yeah, it is one of my favourite toys. Too bad that I do not have a project with it right now.

Bah, I call it bloody expensive useless system that makes student complain half the lecture that their device did not register properly . Though to be honest last time I heard that the system is supposed to work properly now. Thinking about hurling stuff. I was wondering how well it would work to throw chocolate bars at students. The signals might be ambiguous, but they pack a better punch than chalk.

Actually you should consider that the magnification alone won't give info on what you can see, as the resolution power is also dependent on the aperture. And in the end it is the resolution that limits what you can distinguish.

We have got the clicker system here, where you actually can poll the answers anonymously. I always wanted to try that out but apparently there are sometimes technical issues with that.

Haven't checked the link, but when I am making wafers in the cleanroom there is only yellowish light (for avoid photoexposure of the resist). If it is really harmful I am probably screwed (that and everything appears to be blue....).

Hm. Interesting concept. I usually keep a DB in which I keep track who I have asked how often, but randomize it openly may be a nice trick. It may appear a bit like a quiz show then, but that might not be a bad thing.

But in a free market system, which company would willingly insure high-risk people? They effectively cost the insurer money. Where is the incentive to take them in (without government interference that is)?

Only between painting the white house red and putting up posters of Marx all over the place.

About everything. Trained personnel, equipment, medication, etc. They all have to be of a certain standard and that does not come cheap. Let us make a simple calculation. According to publications mean monthly health care cost range from 2187 to 7616 USD, depending on the type of cancer. This does not take indirect cost (as lost work time) into account. Now by how much do you think this has to be slashed to make it payable (considering that the treatments generally take longer than a few months) and do you think that even with reduced overhead this can be achieved? The reason why insurances exist in the first place is that the cost cannot be easily shouldered by individuals. In an insurance system those that in this case stay healthy essentially pay for those that get ill. It is essentially a bet. Only that in case of health it is one with a big risk of losing (and hence the cost). Edit: cross posted with Sceptic. Another thought: Germany has a mixed system with both several public insurers as well as a number of private ones. It is mandatory to have insurance and while the private ones have better options (but are generally not more expensive) they are selective. The public ones have to take everyone in. While the system is in my experience better and cheaper than the US system, it is still a bit more expensive that the UK one, for instance. I heard of longer waiting time (except for emergencies), in the UK, though. On the other hand this does also apply to the US. Primary care waiting time for first time patients are apparently around 1-2 weeks and for specialists 2 weeks and up.

Sorry, but that is an hyperbole. The only thing observed was an increase on growth, not a growth on radiation as sole energy source. This is not the same.

Just? First, many insurers won't take you in. I have seen that. The same goes for auto insurance, btw. Second, the increase is not negligible. In case of suspicion of cancer it boiled down to around 1k per month. Had it been diagnosed it may have been more. Also one has a waiting time before In a truly free market however, the high risk pool will not be taken in at all as even with such an increase in premiums it will not cover the cost of the insurer. Generally health care is too expensive to be ever be affordable out-of-pocket if you fall seriously ill. Even if we cut down the money the MDs get as well as on prescription, the price simply cannot go down to the level of, say, car repair.

OK. You are 20 and have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Now go ahead and plan for the future.

I am not sure whether any of them would carry something like that (and Fisher is basically a distributor). Better guesses are probably ABI (the ambion system), Promega, Invitrogen and Qiagen.

Generally EDTA dissolves OKish at high pH (around 8). I think you may get up to 0.5 M then. At near neutral you would only get a couple of mM into solution (I think around 10, but I may be wrong).

What kind of gels?

Lambda (as well as a number of other phages) are basically using bacterial regulation to determine their own status. It is coupled to the SOS response of the cell (activation of RecA, autoproteolysis of LexA and so on). The reaction is analogous to the induced cleavage of LexA by RecA. CI has a slow self/cleavage that is a stabilized and promoted by the activated RecA. The CI cleavage is far slower, though. This kind of information is easier found in textbooks as in journals as it has found its way into the realm of basic or common knowledge (and hence are rarely cited anymore).

In addition, if we raise antibodies to do the blocking (instead of using an analogon that binds the receptor) chances are high that we create an autoimmune disease. In fact a number of them (including e.g. Grave's disease) are the result of the immune system raising antibodies against a receptor with regulatory functions.

Or another way to illustrate odds. Assume you draw 100 cards from a deck of cards (and put it back and reshuffle after each draw). The chances to get that precise order you end up with is 1/(52^100). Yet you just did it.

Shakespeare?