Down the Rabbit Hole

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)'s  Loyalty Day  is a celebration of volunteerism, honour, and commitment to country. Every October 10th, UPLB commemorates the mobilisation of Filipinos for a war that they ultimately did not fight. On this date in 1918, staff and students of the UP College of Agriculture (now known as UPLB) enlisted in the Philippine National Guard to help fight in  World War I .  The Philippines was a U.S. territory  at the time, and the enlisted personnel were supposed to sail to Europe and be under the command of General John Pershing. However, on the day they were mustered into federal service, the fighting ended (Armistice Day). They never left the Philippines, but their action spoke of their willingness to serve, forever etched into UPLB history. Years after moving to California, I found my link to the UPLB community through the active alumni network  in  Davis, CA . I received an invitation to the Loyalty Day c...

https://www.solanoturkeytrot.org/ I have not learned my lesson. Barely two months ago, I did not finish my treadmill half-marathon . This should have convinced me that I'm not ready for a race, but here I am again, paying and confirming my attendance at another one. I signed up for the Solano Turkey Trot, an outdoor run/walk event to be held at Solano Community College.  I first saw an announcement about it at work, but I dismissed it (I thought that I had to be in a turkey costume for it). Everything changed on a relaxed morning when I wasn't rushing after school drop-off. As I was leaving for a physiotherapy appointment, I bumped into the moms of two of Donan's friends. They had both signed up for the 5K run and invited me to join them. Just like that, my initial decision of no  changed into count me in . I doubled down. From treadmill to the great outdoors Now back to reality: The 5K run/walk lasts for about 90 minutes. I haven't run outdoors for over 10 years, and s...

The problem: data drudgery.  Our solution: business intelligence tools.  Two business intelligence tools are available for use at the Napa-Solano-Yolo-Marin Public Health Laboratory (NSYM PHL): Power BI and R. I described how the laboratory staff use these tools during my presentation to LabAspire Fellows and their mentors. I'm sharing part of it here.  Context The NSYM PHL processes over 10,000 specimens annually, with more than 75% being environmental specimens (i.e., water samples and ticks). The rest are clinical specimens. Once these specimens are in the laboratory, they undergo three phases of testing: Pre-analytical phase Information about the specimen is derived from the requisition form that comes with it: patient information (i.e., unique identifiers, travel history), submitter (oftentimes the medical facility) information, and sample information (i.e., sample source and type, collection date and time, type of test requested). The information is then entered...

Listening to Steven Bartlett's  Diary of a CEO  episodes on  inflammation  and  herbal medicine  coincided with my exploration of how to improve my vitamin levels. I used to take prenatal multivitamins and then individual vitamin and mineral supplements. I even tried green juices. However, the habit of drinking vitamins and minerals in tablet or capsule form doesn't stick; I didn't like the taste of green juices. As I continued researching, I encountered IM8, a product that claims to contain 92 nutrient-rich ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, superfoods, antioxidants, prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics.  It sounded too good to be true; however, it contains  spore-forming probiotics,  Bacillus subtilis  and  B. coagulans .  This is consistent with what Dr Jamnadas said about what he's personally taking to improve his gut microbiome. Moreover, it promises berry flavours with chocolate undertones; not my favourite fla...

I regularly listen to Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO (DOAC) podcast during my commute to work (it's currently in my driving playlist, along with finance podcasts) and during my solo lunch-time one-mile walks because his discussions with guests are compelling and informative. One of the episodes I listened to featured Dr Pradip Jamnadas , the founder of Aristotle Education LLC. I found this episode interesting because it followed soon after the discussion with Simon Mills on herbal medicine . Simon Mills discussed inflammation and its relationship to the body's immune response. To recap, inflammation occurs when blood vessels become more permeable, allowing white blood cells and other immune system components to leave the blood vessels, enter the injured area of the body, and attack the pathogens causing infections. NSAIDs are not ideal medications because they tend to dampen one's immune response. His treatments of choice are concoctions of different plant materials,...

I have subscribed to Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO (DOAC) after I listened to the episode about feet and barefoot running. I appreciate his inclination to invite scientists to discuss their expertise... these guests are conversational, not overly technical or jargon-filled. For instance, the episode featuring Simon Mills (my favourite so far) was all about phytotherapy. Antibiotic resistance limits the medicines available for treating illnesses. Enter phytotherapy. I've witnessed the alarming effects of antibiotic resistance firsthand while at work. Patients with bacterial infections must be screened for the antibiotic susceptibilities of the causative pathogens so that doctors can determine the most effective treatment.  In the lab, isolates identified as  Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex  from specimens submitted by the same patient are sent to the California Department of Public Health  every 90 days (based on collection date). This is crucial in a pat...