Taking a break

I thought I should update this blog since I have already sent out the instructions for the hols homework and finished marking all the submitted tutorials =)....

The unexpected political instability in Thailand brought waves of concerns and headaches in the management of airtickets, lodging and transport for the softball competition in Chiang Mai at the end of the year. Although, like my teams, I was keen to head down to the northern territory to visit friends from my YEP project last year, I felt the relief when the school decided to cancel the trip for safety reasons because there were too many uncertainties and I was troubled daily in trying to monitor the development and to make appropriate arrangement.

But still I did have a great holiday with my friends in Bali just last week, coming back with a good tan and glow, although the cloudy weather in Singapore promised it to be a short-lived phenomenon. =)
I brought my parents out in the last 2 hols but this time, I was glad to be able to enjoy the company of my friends again because there are something that you just wouldnt do with your parents - we went whitewater rafting on day 1, negotiating the bends and passing through waterfalls for more than an hour. A level 4 experience and it was great fun and a great drop towards the end! =)
The very next day was survived on minimum sleep as we woke up at 2am to travel and climb a volcano in the dark for more than an hour in order to see the sunrise. It was quite an exercise, firming the butts and challenging our balancing skills and I must concur that wearing sandals was definitely not the way to go. But still we made it in time to be rewarded with a glorious sunrise and monkeys who tried to snatch my breakfast! At the top, we could see the devastation made by the last eruption and how the lava cut through the land mass. Lying dormant now, the land is still hot enough to cook eggs buried within.And for the rest of the day, we were just wiped out. =P
One more day in Bali and two of us chose to take on the waves and learn how to surf. It was a dream fulfilled for me because it was a sports I had always wanted to do after reading the "The Three Investigators" when I was young because the protagonists live by a beach in California and will surf occasionally.=) 2.5 hours of surfing and it was a tiring affair! - not the actual wave-catching but to go against the waves after each attempt in order to get to the spot where the waves usually break. My tummy muscles and deltoids were sore for 3 days...But it was fun! And I was not too bad because I got the hang of it after about an hour to manage 3 consecutive nice maneuvers for a beginner. =)
But I also managed to bruise a rib while scrambling up the board in order to catch a good wave, making it painful to continue with my exercise regimen in the holidays now. =P - the perfect excuse :)
And for the last three days, we spent them in Lombok, an island close to Bali where we just unwound and devoured the books we brought in an idyllic setting. A peaceful retreat from the outside world....especially good for some cheem read.

Back to school again for CCA...feeling fresh and fit for now :)

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Now playing: Track 17
via FoxyTunes

When Weddings Become a Great Reunion

H-3 lectures finished last week and I can finally checked that off my list of to-dos and try to clear work for the year so that I may have a peace of mind when I go for hols
The tense situation in Bangkok brought new worries for the Softball Chiang Mai trip which I already have much trouble with - I have been to Changi Ap 4 times to sort out ticketing issues, trying to get EduS $ from the secondary schools, trying to get hold of my personal contacts in Chiang Mai so that the kids will pay less. Sometimes I think I work too hard on this - I should have throw it to the agency to settle everything for me but then the idealist me rather choose to take the alternative route so that 1) kids will pay less and 2) give work and money to the Thai locals who are having difficulties themselves. I have worked with a Thai translator during my YEP trip last year and the last time when we communicated, the orphanage he was managing was facing a shortage of food and children falling sick. So I was hoping to use this trip to do some purchases for him and orphans.
I guess everything will hinge on the political climate in Thailand.

Anyway that aside, it was ringing wedding bells all over town.
On Saturday & Sunday, it was the wedding of my primary school classmate (she had it over 2 days). With the bride and all those around my table, it was 20 years of friendship and for some of us, even longer.
This group of friends are very special to me, even though I would usually be pretty reticent among them (it is difficult when they start to talk about marriages and diapers). But I appreciated their presence for that shared history and also, they always bring with them a very different perspective of life with their struggles which are often very different from my sec/jc classmates. Life has never been a bed of roses for some of them and very often they remind me how fortunate I am and also that the environment we are so comfortable in school is only a mere fraction of the world out there. I think that is why I want my students to go out there and touch the world beyond their immediate surroundings. As a school who supposedly produces leaders, how do you even lead when you do not know the nature of the majority of your population. If you decide that everyone in school is different enough, think again. Which brought us the question of the Community work we are doing - how much do we know about the client we are serving? Do we know their stories?
Bearing this thought, I am also concerned with the young leaders of these days whether they are lacking the 'person' touch while they run plans with great efficiency as one of my frens divulged after working in the gr-roots for a few years.
Don't keep your feets grounded but your heart as well.

The bride and I lived a few blocks apart and when I told my mum that I will be attending her wedding, she exclaimed 'oh, the one whom you always go to the bookshop with to buy things!'. So many years already and the funny things pple remember. And that's right, both of us used to pool our pocket money together to buy comics like doraemon, dragonball and professor IQ. But she got the better half of the deal because the dragonball books are with her hahah.


And on the funny things pple remember, another cupid had his arrow on my softball mate on Mon and I was seated with his secondary 2 classmates. It was particularly amusing when I realised that I know everyone around the table even though they were from a different class. There was TL, the guy you see on TV for Chinese cri**watch and we used to act in a Chinese drama together, there were JS and T who became my JC classmates, AM - a bigshot these days (apparently) and my JC OG mate, KG whom I have been working with recently and N who, for some reason, I can still remember his name. A lively bunch of pple and all of them single haahah.
But what was equally amusing was when KG remembered funny little facts about me like how I also used to be a 400m runner. No one remembered which race I preferred but in those days to do a full round under a min was pretty rare. Actually, come to think about it, I think I am more notorious than I chose to believe. hahah. Perhaps.
Then again, you realised the different profiles this group of frens held compared to the dinner the day before.



I must admit that after next year, I will be the only single among this group of friends

REthink ReExamine

I went through a series of tests on Friday, staying awake and alert for 6 hours and that is no easy feat. In fact I should rest soon because my vision has been a bit blurred lately - an indication that my eyeballs are really weary enough. But rest will have to wait while I cleared the impending things on my checklist.

Anyway, I just want to say that - Give a smile and tell your tale because you WANT pple to understand and hear your side of the story. That is presentation. I think some of us see the TV newscaster with firm face and the stiffness that comes with the imagined freshly pressed jacket as the ideal model but presentation style can be driven by personality. I like to keep my hands free for gesturing because i find that by gesturing, I am less nervous and I don't have to keep a conscious effort to place my hands in a fixed position since I am usually quite excitable. There is no fixed way to tell a tale but all of us always love someone who is comfortable (think oprah) and hear that WANT in his voice.
I think I used to be super conscious with how I say things or my body language etc becos I hated to stand in front of everyone and make some noises. To a certain extent, I still do but it usually goes away when I WANT to make point or tell a tale.
Just like a sales person. you cannot sell if you dont know your product. When you know your product and want to share about it, talking about it is not the problem anymore.

Yet, sometimes we get complacent because we think everything is in the instruction manual of the product. But who is reading that thick manual? What the sales person say, he/she has to justify and be able to anticipate questions. The best sales persons is prepared for all possible questions and still convinced you.
To me, presentation and the thesis I handed up are two separate things. I always made a deliberate effort to make my slides coherent and be able to justify or comment on the points I have in my slides so that I can defend my thesis. I think a lot of pple forget that and got a little complacent. It may not be able whether you know it or not but whether you have prepared it or not.

Be that sales person who knows your own product which you have designed and toiled over. For those efforts, you want to tell a tale so be confident and speak with that passion. Dun wear that jacket if it does not suit you.

You have a story to tell so do tell.

Wrapping The Year

The academic year has more or less closed.
The sadness & the joys were passing clouds that once marked our days.
There were many times when I wished I was better at talking to give reassurances or better advices. But I learned.
There were times when I wished a lecture or tutorial could be better conducted. But I learned - and I think this year's pro and eu is much better than the 1st series which I also lectured and prepared the notes for. More coherence and beauty.
There were times when I felt happy at a job well-done or friends made. I cherished those moments but they were gone too.

It has been an interesting year and I am thankful to my classes B & L for the learning journeys as well as my colleagues who supported me in many ways and once again tolerated my sonic laughter which threatened to bring the whole staff room down.

For the L's, I guessed I did not know I was in the company of two cows, paper, penguin, duckie, tape recorder, mirrors, sea cucumber, cat and seedless grapes to name a few. But whatever we are, we all can eat pizza haha. And I saw the posing power of the girls.




For B's, they were a great bunch too but next year I won't be having some of them in my classes anymore. For that Chang-Er who is flying away, all the best. For the those who needs the extra year, stay focused and keep working, and I hope that you had learnt something from me in this one year and found your footing in life. For the rest, dun drift away. There is still time but you need to focus and learn from mistakes. Haiz... din manage to take a pic with all on the last day.


FOr both classes: the most intriguing part of life and the lesson we really want to impart is not taking on the smoothest paths but to have the readiness to pick up after each fall and to learn from each experience.
And I recalled a comment made in class some time back about making ourselves stand out among the crowd and do something worthy....I went back and thought about it and realised what I really want to say is, I hoped you will challenge yourself to do and experience new things or things you think you want to try or do. Because experiences will allow you to discover yourself and maybe even a passion that you can identify with in life. I don't need my students to stand out but I want them to stand tall.

Ok.. it is back to H3 preparation.

Who & What R U?

It has been many years since my last MBTI test and there has been changes since then. I supposed it is just part of growing up but what's good this time is having facilitators to explain each component of the letter so now I know that I am a justified I even though my boss looked at me in disbelief. If I have elaborate on my hibernating mode, it would be detaching myself from this highly-connected world. They said that internet, handphones and air flight brought all of us closer together and because it is true, I used to switch off my handphone, stay off the internet and live life as it has once been for 2 wks to a month. Sometimes I gave in to temptation and check my emails and smses in case of any emergency...mmmm that was before I started teaching. Now opportunities are limited. So sometimes, all I am asking for is a chance to recharge.
It made me realise why I was so super grumpy during the retreat the other day because I was working super hard the days before, reviewing the scripts of my students so that I may hopefully pull any on the borderline up, clearing my lecture notes so that it can be printed on time while sitting through indecisive and frustrating meetings. Not forgetting that I was struggling to mark in the week before. SO all i wanted during the retreat, when things supposed to wind down, is a good rest and nothing else. So I think I struggled through the activities and when it was finally over, I bought myself a iced cafe mocha from Starbucks and sit on the steps of marina square alone to chill. mmm..before the test, it never did occur to me that I NEED such time and that it was a way some of us recharge.
I think the test also reminded me how people around me works and why certain things are the way they are and why certain issues take forever to be resolved. Sometimes, we have to let go of ourselves more readily.

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I walked past a restaurant just now with it being one of the many along a stretch of road. It was dinner time and the only difference was that there was not a single customer in sight.
老板用手掩着脸面， 独自在萧索的餐厅里秉承犀利的沉静。伫立在门外的我彷佛听到他无声的呐喊。 说实在的，这餐厅当年还真蛮不错的。但不知从何时开始食物就每日况下，吃了一次你就没有理由再回返了。 是惋惜还是无奈促使我停下步伐呢？
当我回头再度经过时， 就有一位顾客坐了下来。。是可悲还是可喜呢？

Postcard from G

It has been such a while since I left my footprint on this page. So many things have happened and so many thoughts have went by. But then it was a bit difficult when served with a last-minute notice to prepare for a series of upcoming lectures so I had to hide in this little corner in btw bio and chinese, isolated from the possibly distracting activities in the staff, to really work out this new set of notes because the topic is just so new. The information was really overwhelming but I guess that was always the challenge - how to simplify things such that it is readable but still retains its essence. I haven't perfected it but I have read and understand enough to give it my own point of view - so in that sense it is better than I first did it. =) But the verdict is still out there waiting to be passed.
Then it was the marking which I started real late like after everyone else has more or less finished (because of the notes)- but it was the plan. I wanted to do it while everyone is marking so that when they are done, I can take over readily and they can vet my notes for clarity and feel. But still, I got a little frustrated with my progress and thus stressed until I told myself - hey I should not aim to finish it in one shot but spread it out so that I can have time for other things like catching up with some impt frens, settled my j2 cca records, go for gathering. Isn't that I used to manage things? Sometimes we just forget how we are used to be like.
With that, I was also inspired by a student who exclaimed that running was totally endorphins-inducing and so I finally picked up my shoes and started running again- something which I have forgotten to do for a very long time. And it was devastating because then I realised how truly in denial I am in for my own fitness level and also how much I have grown into for the past 2 years. I can only say that the run to MacRitchie was purging - of all that cholestrol that is choking up my arteries so that I may get back my breathing rhythm back and figure how just how much of my muscles has dystrophied so that I can make realistic adjustment. Yup - no longer am I the 'flash' as I once was but a messy mass which seriously need to get back in shape. But I must say that run to macRitchie was beautiful with the evening sun reflecting off the water and the feel of nature - amid my endless gaspings of course. I do feel good afterall. I did a run in school in the morning today when I went to return some scripts -i felt better this time for I think I am accustomising to the routine pacing. I decided that I would get back in shape before my next birthday. maybe even clock a decent timing for sprints. mmm...perhaps for the 2nd thought =P.

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Finished marking today. My heart always raced when I marked my own classes (and I meant it) because I think it is not only an assessment for the students but for the teacher as well. from the scripts I think - did they understand what I meant in class, did they catch those pitfalls I always emphasizes. And it showed.
I am not sure if students realised but these days I never really go through the tutorials or at least it is never entirely about the tutorials and their answers - there isn't much of a point if I have marked the scripts and answers will be given yah? with experience and me being so rather anal about things, tutorial is the time I will spend on emphasizing the pitfalls that students tend to find themselves in, the types of questions a topic can come up with but we did not have the chances to delve into. I think it paid off - if the students have listened - because almost everyone in one class managed to secure certain marks but quite a number from another class which is more easily distracted had difficulty with, but then so did many others in the cohort. Still I felt sad for the latter because I know that they were working so hard for all their subjects during the last stretch and it is easy to see why they falter at the end...Funnily, it was my other class that confirmed the results because it was those who did not turn up for the last few lessons suffered from my red slashing while those who came dutifully put down the appropriate phrasing which is really standard.

I suddenly recalled a remark made by a student of mine: Sir, I have really studied but I just don't what to write during the exams... (to the effect). then I got to know that one of my kids gave up on the essay. These are the times when you feel very sad and vindictive: why why why?! then you melt because sometimes when we want something so badly we do blank out as an insurmountable sense of fear set in. I have been through it before and it takes huge amount of courage to find it in yourself to let go of the expectation you decided to place on yourself but just go and give it your best shot...fight, and fight it with some arrogance and belief.

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Frens

2postcards from Greece arrived in my mailbox the other day. so coincidental but very heartwarming.
One was from my niece who has quitted her job and is now lounging around, taking a well-deserved break. she noted that this is, for a while already, a trip without me. mmm... she has forgotten that she went to germany and austria without me some time ago! But at least she sent me a postcard =P, writing to me from Mykonos which is an island I did not have the leisure of time to go when I was there in Greece on my first ever backpacking trip 5 years back. For me it was the most amazing trip because it alternates so often between bliss and despair.

But the most heartwarming postcard is from CP who was on his honeymoon. CP and I go a long way back from sec school and being frens for so long, you just know the temperament of the person. Like I know exactly how he would respond to situations and how he would not bother to get his hair professionally cut for his wedding and how he could not be bother with the details of the banquet which in the end I settled for him so that it ran without a glitch . But I guess he also knows me well enough to arrow me to be the coordinator.
I guess friendship is something you built upon over the years gradually, bit by bit with sincerity and love. 1 -2 years down the road when I got busy with work and he with love, the bond remains and when the news of his wedding came a month before the actual event, I was pleasantly surprised but readily agreed to help him out.
I remembered his current wife (the then-gf )got a little jealous of us while we were on a japan backpacking trip because,as we havent met up for quite a while before the trip, we took time to catch up on the train to kyoto...and mm...he neglected her for a while. =P
Anyway, I thought it was awesome to be remembered to warrant a postcard while he is on honeymoon. =)

As U race to the starting line.... Good Luck!!

A Few Updates B4 the Dash

PHOTOSYNTHESIS/RESPIRATION


1) Chemiosmosis VS Photophosphorylation

The meaning of the two terms can be derived from the words themselves.

Chemiosmosis refers simply to the movement of H+ ions i.e. pump across the membrane when electrons move along the ETC to release energy for activity. The electrons then diffuse back across the membrane through the hydrophilic pore of the ATPase with a release of energy that is coupled to the synthesis of ATP.

(where H+ moves from and to depends on the topic)

Photophosphorylation: how light energy is used to phosphorylate ADP to make ATP or how light energy is converted to chemical energy.

This would cover the many events from PSII to PS I and how ATP is eventually synthesized. Thus, chemiosmosis plays a part in photophorylation but here we are concerned with the process of synthesis of ATP. Chemiosmosis is just about H+ movement -reference to ATP is minor but usually we include it in brief.

2) ATPase? ATP synthetase? ATP synthase?

It is ATPase or ATP synthase.

In DNA genomics we have aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase!


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M & M

3. In tutorial, there was a given answer (by me) comparing anaI and anaII: each chromosome in anaI is bound by spindle fibers from one pole while in anaII, each chromosomes is bound by spindle fibers from both poles

Amendment: This should be a difference in Metaphase not Anaphase. In anaphaseII, the 2 sister chromatids would have been separated so each chromosome is actually attached to spindle fibers from each poles...

2nd mark is: whether centromere has divided or not
3rd mark is: the sister chromatids are pulled together towards each pole in anaI but the sister chromatids are separated and pulled towards opp poles in anaII


4. Crossing over = physical exchange of equivalent portions of genetic material. It is NOT when one non-sister chromatid is on top of the other/overlap.

5. Chiasma must form first before crossing over can take place. (amendment to notes)

6.What is the middle lamella (cytokinesis/Plant)

Cell walls consist of 3 types of layers:

Middle lamella:This is the first layer formed during cell division. The middle part of cell wall that is made up of pectic compounds and protein and cements the cell walls of two adjoining cells together. Plants need this to give them stability and so that they can form plasmodesmata between the cells. It is the first layer which is deposited at the time of cytokinesis.

Primary wall: This is formed after the middle lamella and consists of a rigid skeleton of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a gel-like matrix composed of pectic compounds, hemicellulose, and glycoproteins.

Secondary wall: formed after cell enlargement is completed. The secondary wall is extremely rigid and provides compression strength. It is made of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The secondary wall is often layered.

6a. Mitosis, mitotic cycle, cytokinesis? (Inspiration from Qn 25 of mcQs.)

1) the cell cycle is also known as the mitotic cycle. Thus it will include the Interphase as well as the M phase (M for mitotic/mitosis PHASE).

2) the mitosis PHASE, comprises of Mitosis (pro-meta-ana-telo-phase)+ Cytokinesis

so mitotic cycle, mitotic/mitosis phase and mitosis are different ideas.





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VIRUS


7. Can many prophages exist in a bacteria? (I forgot whether I have addressed this) - (ADDITIONAL)

Depends on the context.
Once a lambda phage enter a lysogenic cycle as prophage, there is superinfection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superinfection where the DNA of other lambda phages is rendered useless

However, if the bacteria get infected by another type of virus, it is possible to have different type of prophages in the cell because the immune mechanism/inihibitory mechanism of lambda phage may not work on other types of virus. =)


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Bacteria



MCQ test




Lecture Notes

8. what is an effector molecule?
(note that we are talking about effector MOLECULE. Effector in physio is different)

An effector is a molecule (originally referring to small molecules but now encompassing any regulatory molecule, includes proteins) that binds to a protein and thereby alters the activity of that protein. A modulator molecule binds to a regulatory site during allosteric modulation and allosterically modulates the shape of the protein.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effector_(biology))

Thus tryptophan and lactose are effectors because they binds to repressors(a protein) to alter its function/activity - Trp activates it while Lac inhibit it. cAMP is also an effector molecule.
(it is just that effectors may have specific names or reference like co-repressor. 'Effector molecule' is an umbrella term.)

9. What is a metabolite?

Metabolites are the intermediates and products of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually restricted to small molecules.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolite)
Very general. Not to worry over.

Do We Have a Role to Play?

Can heave a sigh of relief now.
I finally got out of the house to catch "the dark knight' on Wed. The last one was so good with the directing and acting that I wouldn't want to miss this before the curtains fall in the next few weeks. Crossing the road to buy a cup of cafe mocha from Starbucks, I met a schoolmate from R-I who is now a pilot and looking good still - a good thing really since we are all theoretically reaching the prime of our life..although some are less fortunate in the 'ageing gracefully' department. We made small talk and we agreed that half the world has seen the show. A simple conversation and it made me realise that watching movies has stopped becoming a priority in our lives. In the past the movie theatres were exciting destinations for us and for me, it was an intense 2-hr session of plot, wit and drama. Talking during show or eating popcorn was a no-no and for that 2-hr you just lose yourself to another exciting world. I started watching movies on my own when I was P5. After school on Friday which was early dismissal day, I would head down to TP library to devour books or watch a movie at either of the two theatres there. In the past, the ticket stubs comes in either pink/blue or yellow and there are even circle seats. using a waxy pencil, the ticket lady would write your seat number on the stub after crossing out the same number on her seating plan. you take the stub and hand it over to one of the old uncles at the doors very much like those in Lido.
you dun get carpeted floor or plush seat but theatres in those day are huge (imagine the existence of circle seat on another level), seats are wrapped with synthetic leather and creaked with resistance. once, I saw a cockroach scurrying away.those were the days....

As we grow older, our priorities in life do change and in the last decade, with the emergence of internet and interconnectivity of the world, there is a perceptible change in landscape and the playground. How much do we need the theatres when there are so many online streaming venues?
Yesterday I went for a course and we talked about the loads of information that can be found at one's fingertips. If information is so readily accessible (last time we can only rely on books) online, is there a place for the teachers? What are our roles? If knowledge is no longer as powerful as it once was, what is?
one of my friends struggled with the notion but I told him that there still so much to do other that the answers that we give to the kids. If we want to secure the grades, we can just push and demand. But as the speakers from yesterday said, classroom is a place where we impart not only knowledge but also skills. Skills that empower our kids to cope with life and to reality. Our education has merely provided us with a simple, direct path that we can walk upon but there are other smaller foot paths that we can also take only if we choose to stop to smell the roses and then to discover them.
If you ask me, it is not about the greatness they attained in their future but I hope that they will have a life well-lived with integrity and love.

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I was troubled for a long time now until a friend I met up recently reminded me that the world has changed much since we left school and we have grown older as well. With
that, it is natural and perfectly fine to lose that simple innocence in things around us. It doesn't have to make you a worse person than before but simply wiser/more knowledgable. But keep that innocence in relationship I said because it is that essence that makes the world a better place to live in.

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Will not write anymore for now. Was so stressed up with marking in the middle of the week that I couldn't sleep well for a few nights. There was a night I slept at 2am but only to wake up at 6am to continue marking because I was so worried that I couldnt finish marking before hols ends and there are so many other things to do. My parents got a bit worried because I wasn't in a good state. But I eventually completed yesterday so I shall cherish these moments of bliss and rest early. And perhaps contemplate about the many questions that came up.


All the best pple!

Question that could not be found in your tutorial

Happy T Day

The year went by so fast and we were already celebrating T-Day while I am still basking in last year's. It has been a while and I hope I am wiser and more capable in my delivery.

The celebration in hall was awesome in the ambiance although hiccups in the AV dept was unfortunately plentiful. As least the street dance went ahead nicely and I managed to record it as my CT rep did the groovy thing. muahaha.
But there was a poignant moment which brought tears that linger in the orbits for a while - when they showed a powerpoint on quotes about this profession. I do not know what others thought: typical or cheesy but the Emo-disturbance wasn't because I think I have done well for I still have so much more to learn but because I was reminded of the 2 teachers who put me on this path. Perhaps more than some others, I can truly appreciate the quotes. As usual for the past decade, I bought and put their fav Royce into their pigeonholes before heading to school on Fri morning. One of them msged me during our concert and her words reverberates in my heart for a long time because I know she was having issues with management within these few years: 'Happy T-day to you too! you are one of the reasons I can go on teaching.....'. We asked ourselves why we do what we do. I want to tell her that she is also one of the reasons I choose teaching.

There were many well-wishes. Quite a number came as a surprise like students from REACH and RC-LF because our interaction had been somewhat limited. And of cos, my SQL08 whose msgs brought back such wonderful memories. =)

And I must say I was really impressed with the surprises from L. Such creativity, thoughtfulness and good taste in music (someone has been watching too much korean drama?!). I saw the effort in coordinating, choreographing and writing notes when you could be doing tutorials :P. I am also very grateful to have all of you for the rest of your 2-yr journey.

PS: The video is quite addictive and I have to stop clicking on it :P. Definitely something I can show off to hahah.


B too. I know it was probably difficult to get everyone to write something down since there is a lack of consistency in class size and I appreciates the effort. And I know often we go beyond words. =)

D and the softballers. The latter's R-rated card really kept the bio dept entertained =P. The former tell me that I am doing something right for them since taking over them during this interim period.

Mmm...gotta stop or it will be difficult to end and I have to start marking =P.
Thank all who cross my paths and keep me going.

Have a good hols!

the critical and old heart

A student msged me recently to seek advice on his career choice and he made two statements that surprised me:

Why did you ask me for advice on such matter?
1.Because sir, you looks young but have a old heart.

An awkward expression. I told this to my fellow teacher-mentor and she said, this boy do know you.

2. Sir, you are too harsh on yourself
And realised that it is true. he said after spending two weeks together in chiangmai for the overseas expedition, there are something that you just know.

Of Course I M Upset

B was really distracted today and little pockets of conversation carried on regardless of whether it was tutorial or the so-called catching up. Few listened. The jet lag did not help and I have trouble sorting out the emotional mayhem within. Some said I looked upset and how can I not?

Just a few hours before lesson, I met a member of the SB team who asked if I have bought goodies for the team and it was then when it struck me that I have not. A little embarrassed but it also made me realise that it was because the team has never/yet to make me feel part of it. Often, I don't feel appreciated and I felt like I am just playing an administrative role, so the relationship becomes very stale. Ironically, I got along better with other CCAs --- it was disturbing that I would say hi to many kiddos in other CCAs (who greeted me) as I walked towards the field but only to meet with silence in my own CCA as some conveniently ignore me. Yet it wasn't like that 2 years back with my cricket and softball teams which I have really bonded well with. I do wonder if it is because I demand too much from them this time?
I always tell the C-CAL under me during C-CAL cmp that the teacher-mentor has to be part of the team otherwise why would he/she want to work for the team and admittedly, I felt the inertia at various stages.

On the other hand, my classes were on my mind during my trip. So after hauling the load of goodies across the continents and entering a class which seemingly ignored you and whose members were only interested in their own conversations, I had to wonder about if there is something wrong with myself this year...and I was upset with myself. Sighz... in the end, I still gave out the goodies despite the brooding gloom because deep down I know I still really want to give it to them and without questioning. (the many thank-you softened the blow but it doesn't take away my worry for their studies).

------------------------

During my absence from school, a number of ex-students came by to say hi but instead have to drop a note. It was nice to 'hear' from them again but such is the way of fate. Sometimes, the 'goodbye, see you next time' never materialize. One came back from the States and visited the school on the day I left for Camb (when he had returned days before my departure date). So I didn't trust T when he said we will meet up during the x'mas period and I stayed at the airport yesterday upon landing so that I can send him off. And today, I met up with A in the late afternoon before she flew back to US tml morning even though she said it is alright if I am too tired from the jet lag.
In saying so, I am also glad to have met up with Rick in London after what seemed like an impossible mission. I must admit that I was really a bad conversationalist and I realised then that I really don't know much about him even though we have spent time working together in a US camp 4 years ago. so what brought us together? I think it was the sincerity we extended out to pple around us.

Bacteria/Plasmid

I gave a lecture on bacteria the other day here in Camb and there were also additional materials which I dispensed for a wholesome learning experience. Anyway here is some tibits for the mind.

1) F factor = F plasmid

When you talk about F factor you are referring to the F plasmid itself. F factor is not a gene on the plasmid but represent the entire plasmid with the various genes that contribute to the particular characteristic i.e. having sex pilus.

2) F+ bacterium do not mate with F+ bacterium i.e. no mating bridge is formed between them.

Under normal circumstances, F+ bacterium with its pilus will bind to F- bacterium to draw them nearer to each other. This binding requires recognition of specific proteins on the F- bacterium which are missing in F+ bacterium. So once a F- bacterium receives a F plasmid, there will be changes in its surface proteins such that the above does not take place.

3) Additional: There are many other types of plasmids as well. There are some which confer tolerance to salinity, others produce toxins etc. However, there is one which I would like to talk about and there is the R factor.
R = antibiotic resistance
As the term implies, when a bacterium receives a R factor, it will become resistant to (specific) antibiotic. This is of course important in many of the laboratory work these days as well as the emergence of superbugs in hospitals.
There can be several types of plasmid in a bacterium. And some of these plasmids can make use of the mating bridge formed by the F factor to sneak into the receipient bacterium.

Counting Down

Also thought of sharing some of the bits in Cambridge with you... =) - and now I can finally do it since I have finished my official homework brought from Singapore =( =P. It is amazing how time flies. after getting over the jetlag and clearing some work here and there, I am already heading home....

Some highlights thus far:



Punting Down The River Cam. It was really some exercise :P





Up the London Eye which we have replicated with our own Flyer





The Big Ben & Parliament (While on Cruise)





Although it looked absolutely non-descript unlike all the other bridges, this is the one and only "London Bridge"...is falling down....





One day, I went to attend an Econ Lecture but couldnt take it so I took the time to write lovenotes in a courtyard =)





I took the Biotech kids down to Eagles Pub where Watson & Crick came up with the structure of the DNA molecule. And there is no question about cam-whoring.







This is today's. I went with the literature grp to The GLobe which is a replicate of an open-air theatre built during Shakespearan time for plays. The construction of the Globe was actually initiated by an American in 1949. I watched a 3-hr King Lear play standing up, braving the sudden showers and totally enjoying it even though I couldn't catch everything. The acting was just superb!





Walking on the Millenium Bridge towards St Paul's. I like the bridge a lot. Modern and it felt 'open' , getting it a relaxed feel...


Mmmm... I am glad to have worked hard last week so that I may ease down this week for a more relaxed pace =)

Virus Updates

Feeling a bit guilty here because I have yet to put up the updates on virus as promised and I could not find the correction sheet which I have typed out earlier *groan :(. But no worry, my retentive memory is somewhat still working :) - though I wish to be back in my classrooms talking about this interesting topic ....oh well.. at least I substituted it with a lecture here in Cambridge on bacteria to our Bio students here :P

Anyway here goes:

1) matrix proteins - what are they? Are they important?

From Wiki: In virology, matrix proteins are structural proteins linking the viral envelope with the virus core.

This protein is noted in both influenza and HIV but their implications are different. In influenza, the matrix protein M1 as seen in the given diagram IS also the capsid protein so there is only one level of protein layer enclosing the nucleoprotein. On the other handd, for HIV, the capsid protein and matrix protein genome. The matrix protein is really there to hold the gp41 to the membrane but that doesnt really matter. What you should note is that for HIV, therefore, there are two layers of protein enclosing the genome.

2) Is polypeptide = polyprotein?

They are two different things.
Polypeptide will fold to form one protein.
A polyprotein refer to polypeptide that can be cut into several pieces, each of which can be folded into various structural or enzymatic proteins. In the case of HIV for example, the gag gene encodes for the capsid and matrix protein while the pol gene encodes for the viral protease, RT and integrase. what do you think env gene encodes?

2a) what is this splicing business?
Due to alternative splicing, sometimes you get mRNA of either gag, gag-pol or just env.

3)If you have not made this change in your notes already, pls do. Page 19. Bullet 5/6. a double-stranded DNA is not a provirus. a provirus only exists when it is integrated into the host's genome. Just as we called the integrate phage genome in a lysogenic cycle a prophage.

4) Qn: How do you get a double-stranded DNA in HIV? Who is involved?

5) Your covering tutor should have covered with you on: influenza is a -ve sense RNA virus (-ve sense RNA implies that the genome cannot be used as mRNA directly and has to be converted to the +ve sense (mRNA) before translation can take place) thus the template used to make the new genome and proteins should be the +ve sense mRNA that is transcribed from the -ve sense genome... If not, I will talk about it again next time.

That's all I have I believe =)
Have fun!

Cambridge

Finally a day when I am not so tired at night to pen my thoughts. I guess the jetlag has wore off substantially after a 50-min power nap in the afternoon...=)
How are my classes doing? I wondered but I know that they are in good hands and today I have finally finished and sent the updates I had wanted to prepare before I left to the respective covering tutors. They are so going to kill me even though they were already ready to do so when they realised that my classes are going to start on viruses, slightly ahead of others. =P
But clearing of work was really crazy before I left when I survived on 3 hours of sleep over 2 days - right up to an hour before I left for the airport - to mark the mock SPA, tutorials (structured only- cant make it for essay) for my 3 classes and also the MCQs before I flew off.
And thanks for all the well-wishes from 3L that morning via smses and the booklets and to T whoh had painstakingly collected the bklets so that I may read and write during my time in UK. I have already started on 3 =)

Before I came to Cambridge, I told a good fren/colleague of mine that I was baffled by my role in this trip which seemed to be so different from ISLE. Am I to let go and relax as advised to or do I be the disciplinarian that I expect myself to be? It would be so easy to take the backseat but I find it really hard to do so. Then she pointed out that that's because I would always make it a point to try and seize every moment as a teachable moment to instil values and social awareness. And I supposed that is the choice I have made so that my students can flourish as a person of good character in all sense.
Just as I have made the choice to spend time and mark all questions done in tutorials (except for this virus one) when we do not have to, hoping that each and every student will become aware of the error he/she tends to make and learn from it. Just as my students have to decide the amount of effort they are going to put in for this last stretch for their promos.

Choices choices. The choices we teacher have in our approach to this profession, as sent by a friend who is comtemplating to enter this profession after working in the private sector for 4 years http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080619-71705.html

late already. I am going to snooze...

Why have Thymine and not Uracil in DNA?

JL asked this interesting question =)

Here is the answer as promised:

Thymine is actually methylated-Uracil.
The methylation will make DNA unrecognizable by nucleases and thus ensuring the integrity of the DNA genome for replication.
Also cytosine can spontaneously deaminate to become uracil (C--> U mutation is quite common). However, DNA repair proteins will be able to recognise/differentiate and fix it since this uracil is not methylated.

News in Science

From Scientific American:

1)
Rutgers University researchers have found brain cells responsible for helping people overcome fear of things they once found scary. The finding, published in Nature, could pave the way for these so-called intercalated cells in the amygdala, a brain region that processes fear, to become drug targets for treating phobias (such as fear of heights and closed spaces) as well as post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers and others. Scientists trained two rat populations--one with these cells intact and the other with them disabled--to fear a certain sound by giving them a mild shock every time it was played. After awhile, the animals would freeze in their tracks when they heard the noise, bracing for pain. The team then played the tone sans the shock. When they sounded the note again a week later, rats with healthy intercalated cells weren't bothered, whereas the others froze. The scientists believe that intercalated cells form "extinction memories," which associate something previously feared (such as an air raid siren or a car backfiring) with a harmless outcome.

Kind of interesting 'cos I used to do some readings on memory and learning



2)
Believe it or not, the world is becoming a happier place, at least according to the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research's 2005 to 2007 World Values Survey. The cheeriest country?: Denmark. The gloomiest: Zimbabwe—no surprise given the political unrest there. The U.S. ranks 16th on the list, just after New Zealand. According to the research, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, people are happiest in countries with the most tolerant social norms and most democratic political systems: Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada all rank among the top 10 happiest countries in the world. Researchers have surveyed more than 350,000 people on how happy they have been for the past 26 years based on their responses to the same two questions: "Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" As well as, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?" Democratization and rising social tolerance have even more of an impact than economic growth on happiness, although all are important contributors. The citizens of India, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea all indicate that they're becoming happier. Alas, those in Austria, Belgium, the U.K. and Germany say their joie de vivre is waning.

food 4 thought: I read an article last year in ZaoBao last year. the reason for Danish Happiness is because most of them venture out/travel to find out what they want to do with their live after graduation. When they return and decide to become a cobbler or painter, it is accepted with blessings.

3) (For ZL who has been working hard @ pathlight)
Autism Genes That Control Early Learning

A new genetic analysis of large, inbred Middle Eastern families found that genes linked to a heightened risk of autism are crucial to a child's ability to learn.
A group of scientists, led by a team at Children's Hospital Boston, has pinpointed six new genes that may contribute to autism, a disorder characterized by asocial behavior, difficulty communicating and repetitive actions that affects an estimated one in 150 children born in the U.S. each year. They report in Science that all of the linked genes are involved in forming new and stronger connections, called synapses, between nerve cellsin the brain, which is the biological basis of learning and memory formation.

"We're showing, on the one hand, that autism seems to have a large genetic component," says study co-author Christopher Walsh, chief of genetics at Children's Hospital. "But, the genes that are involved are actually those that are involved in responding to the environment and learning."

The findings, Walsh says, reinforces the importance of early diagnosis of autism and intervention, particularly behavioral therapy and learning in enriched environments through repeated activities. Performing these sorts of tasks may help strengthen cellular connections, compensating for the malfunctioning genes.

The researchers studied 88 families in which one or more children had been diagnosed with autism, and the parents of each autistic child were cousins. Marrying second and third—and even first cousins—is not uncommon in the Middle East, and by studying such families scientists were able to track recessive genetic traits (caused by mutations that only affect individuals with two copies of the flawed genes). Such traits occur far more frequently in inbred families than in others.

The team found a total of six mutations affecting genes that had previously not been linked to autism. The mutations came in the form of deletions, where part or all of both copies of the genes were missing in a child with the disorder. All of the genes are known to be involved in parts of the same process: creating and strengthening synapses.

Normally, when nerve cells (neurons) activate in response to an environmental factor (such as processing a new face or a new sound), synapses between two active cells change to provide stronger connections so the cells can pass on information more efficiently. As the brain develops, new connections are continuously formed among nerve cells, reinforced and, in some instances, broken as the brain starts to mature and divvy up its different functions to specific groups of neurons.

According to the findings, "All of the relevant mutations could disrupt the formation of vital neural connections during a critical period when experience is shaping the brain," says Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md. To wit, most children are diagnosed with autism between the ages of one and three years of age.

Walsh says the team believes these deletions—which in most cases found here only remove some, but not all, of the DNA that makes up a gene—may mean that the genes can regain some of their normal function. In fact, some of these genes may just be switched off. "This presents the possibility that in some kids we could get the gene going again without necessarily having to put it back in the brain," he says.

Jim Sutcliffe, a molecular physiologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., in a Science editorial notes that the majority of autism research is geared toward prenatal development, even though the brain continues to develop well after a child is born. "Experience and environmental input play an important role in subsequent development," he says. He calls the notion that learning in early life is disrupted by these autism genes "an intriguing proposal," but says that further research is needed to validate it.

Dan Geschwind, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, says that to test the hypothesis that autism genes affect synaptic strength, it would be important to examine the 20 to 30 other genes that have been implicated in autism and see which ones also play a role in strengthening neuronal connections. "If its a significant proportion," he says, "that would provide support for the hypothesis being put forward."

Walsh notes that many children diagnosed with autism tend to show vast improvement when they are placed in environments that allow them to practice learning repetitively. He says that these activities essentially train the neurons to make up for their lost function.

"Our work reinforces the importance of early intervention and behavioral therapy," he says. "The more we understand about genetics the more we understand how important the environment is."

Achieving Ur Dreams

Just last week during Civics, I showed my class part of "The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch. The clip was introduced to me by my brother 2 months ago but I only got the time to review it recently and found it interesting possibly useful for my students.

Who is he? Below is a short excerpt from TIME:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733756_1736194,00.html




From his talk, I am sure the takeaways from each individual will be different because all of us have different experiences - some of us have already been there and done it, been there but forgotten about it or never been there. But regardless, there is something for everyone to think about.

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. If someone criticize you that is good because it showed that the person cares. If one day no one bothers, then you worry because they have given up on you.
3. Make time for what matters -- Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.
4. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
5. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
6. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.

If I may add my own:
Be Patient. Dreams need you to take the first step and slowly advance. So be prepared but don't lose faith in your choices because you never know when the right moment comes for you to take the plunge. Even should all fail, check out 4. =)


For my ex-students who are starting to venture out into the real world:
(http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/may2008/sb20080516_673343.htm)

Like millions of people, I watched the video of Randy Pausch giving his "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch, who is dying of cancer, created a lecture that offered life lessons (BusinessWeek.com, 11/21/07) as a guide for his children when they grow older. I developed an even greater appreciation for Pausch's wisdom after reading his book, The Last Lecture, and realizing many of the lessons can be applied to business leaders, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and managers in how they interact with customers and employees.

Encourage creativity. Pausch recalled how he liked to paint things on the wall of his bedroom. His parents were dismayed at first but soon relented after they saw how excited he became when he was painting. Pausch said he's lucky to have had parents who encouraged creativity and allowed him to express himself in unconventional ways. This reminds me of a recent article I came across about Google's (GOOG) Zurich offices. The office space is intended to inspire creativity with slides, aquariums, cable car shells that serve as conference rooms, even igloo-shaped work spaces. Google understands that to be creative, you can't always be sitting in a cubicle. Encourage creativity in your company's workplace.

Learn from Captain Kirk. Pausch was a fan of the Star Trek series growing up. He found a role model in Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk, who, according to Pausch, had the essence of a dynamic manager: He knew how to delegate, had the passion to inspire, and looked good in what he wore to work. "He never professed to have skills greater than his subordinates…but he established the vision, the tone."

Celebrate brick walls. "Brick walls are there for a reason," writes Pausch. "They give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Entrepreneurs and small business owners are faced with hurdles every day, some seemingly insurmountable. But if you're passionate about what you do, those brick walls are easier to scale and you have more fun on the climb.

Dream big. Pausch was attending camp in the summer of 1969 when men first walked on the moon. He remembers his camp counselors sending everyone back to their tents before the big event because it was getting late. Pausch thought to himself, "My species has gotten off of our planet and landed in a new world for the first time, and you people think bedtime matters?" When you put people on the moon, argues Pausch, you're inspiring everyone to achieve to their maximum potential. "Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids' dreams, too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes."

The same goes for your employees. People want more than a paycheck. They want to know their work is adding up to something meaningful. No, you may not be working on a project as exciting as sending a man to the moon, but in some small way, you are making the world a better place. Help your employees see the big picture and, more important, fuel their dreams of career and personal success.

Be the first penguin. Create a culture that celebrates risk. Pausch writes: "[I] encouraged students to attempt hard things and not to worry about failing…failure is not just acceptable, it's often essential." To encourage this way of thinking, Pausch would reward the group of students who took the biggest gamble with a stuffed animal—a penguin. The idea came to him when he realized that when penguins jump into the water where there are predators, one has to go first. According to Pausch, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."

Rediscover the lost art of thank-you notes. In business I have received just a couple of handwritten thank-you notes. But because they are so unusual, and so personal, I was left with a strong impression of the individuals who sent them. So it didn't surprise me that one chapter in The Last Lecture is dedicated to "the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other…showing gratitude." Pausch shows that magical things happen when you send old fashioned thank-you notes. "If you are a B+ student, your handwritten thank-you note will raise you at least a half-grade in the eyes of a future boss or admissions officer. You'll become an 'A' to them."

Have fun. Pausch's colleagues say they will remember him as a person who had fun. Pausch writes: "I don't know how not to have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there's no other way to play it."

Buzz Around

So I tried working around this new template I found for the blog, throwing in some elements here and there to make it look a little cooler and also not forgetting the tagboard which I have been incessantly reminded to put up, be it this batch or last batch. On recommendation, I have changed the tagboard provider so hopefully this will serve me well by not expiring because of inactivity. =)

There are many reasons why this blog suffers periods of constipation - due to the piles of work, lack of questions and inspiration. Hopefuly we get more questions this term to share!

Here are some:
1) CT MCQ question 5: which got me really stumped for the longest time in class - I apologised; when you are rushing the marking day and night, your brain do get a little bit more than fried. I think my eyes nearly popped out last night as I struggled to clear that last pile.
Anyway it took me a while to realise why I have never considered this question a problem until I tried too hard to break sentence up:
if you read statement C as it is meant to be, it is trying to tell you that melting point of FA increase with (increasing) chain length and decreases with (increasing) degree of unsaturation. The (increasing) component is implicit in the sentence structure - a linguistic issue. Just like: the food will go bad with time...

2) what is myoglobin?
Myoglobin is a single-chain globular protein of 153 amino acids, containing a heme (iron-containing porphyrin) prosthetic group in the center around which the remaining apoprotein folds. It is the primary oxygen-carrying pigment of muscle tissues.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoglobin)

I remembered talking to some of you about red meat versus white meat. And yup. myoglobin contributes to why some animals are considered red meat and others white meat and also why some of us are the ideal machine to run 2.4km under 10 min while some of us struggle to do so but score in sprint =).


--------------------

A comment made by students during the week: Sir, you have friends all over the world...I pondered for a while and realised that it matters not if you have friends or not all over the world but to be remembered or remembered because you or that someone made an impact in each other's life. that is really what makes the memories so wonderful. maybe if there is chance, I will share why some of these pple are important to me.

Recuperating

I just came back from a swim and it felt great! Exercising is like a ritual detoxing session for me especially in the holidays when you can idle some time away =P.


CCAL Camp 08

As the teacher-mentor of c6, I am really proud of the kids in my team. I can't say that I am a good facilitator but I definitely hope that they had learnt something from me and one another because to me, the camp was a great opportunity to mentor, not only to have fun. I remembered being quite stern with them on the first day we met but they lived up to expectations and kept the spirits up throughout the 4-day journey when we took good care of one another.
For some of these kids, you can really see that they have matured since the last time I saw them in RI and it gladden me to see them so.

They may not get the best sub-grp prize but how many can boast missing their kids only hours after leaving them? They had made the camp this year memorable for me and I do relish the fond moments with them. N they made me feel much loved with the big grp hug at the end before I left. To C6:



-------Right after the CCAL camp was the Sci Camp

Ahoy the pirates!
3 days of work and fun as we launched trebuchet, solved mystery, made new friends, indulged in some stimulating intellectual workshops and fought some wars!
IT was a crazy time for the students and the teachers I am sure. But the responses were rewarding, to know that the camp had made a difference in understanding and tackling science as a subject, and had enriched the lives of the participants with new found friends from other schools. The teachers as well. It made me realised the distance I can go and what do I want out of this whole education business.

Respire Expired

So many things have happened in the past two weeks (and beyond) that I did not have time to sit down and think. But the memories brought a smile to my face this afternoon when I walked home today... Let's leave it at that for now to fulfil the promise I made.

Today I finally finished marking the Resp tutorials. Hipee! It was actuallly quite tough trying to overcome the inertia of starting to mark right after the completion of Science Camp because once again, I was suffering from another round of sleep deficiency starting from CCAL camp on the plate. But I did anyway despite languishing in serious dream-state on Thursday (the first day after the finale) so that I may make it today to ensure enough buffer time for students to review. Now I can finally sleep/rest with ease. =)



Resp tutorial: general debrief

Overall, there appears to be good understanding of the topic. Putting concepts down in words hopefully helps to distinguish it from photosynthesis.


1) should always try to relate 'oxidative phosphorylation' to the 'formation of ATP'; to say that electrons move down ETC so that oxidative phosphorylation can take place is correct but somewhat lacking.

2) For anaerobic R, some are unclear in their description. you need to realise that while pyruvate/ethanal is the final electron acceptor but being that does not guarantee a regeneration of NAD+. It is the reduction of pyruvate/ethanal in the subsequent step that regenerates NAD+.

3)why do we adopt anaerobic R? It is not to generate more ATP. If it is, I rather generate more with oxidative phosphorylation. Anaerobic Resp is really a backup plan to ensure that we still have a small but sufficient supply of ATP to sustain muscle contraction even when we are out of oxygen. Imagine running away from a bear. Yup, you need it.

4) Quite a handful did not mention the formation of proton gradient in order to generate ATP.

5) students needs to relate answers to the diagram/visual aids given e.g. Question 2; make reference to the molecules given e.g. phosphorylation of glucose!
Question 4d) students only needs to talk about how ATP can affect the enzyme although it was well-written. This is partly an enzyme question so need to mention: end-pdt inhibition/ binding to allosteric site / altering the 3-D conformation at active site; there is no need to talk about AMP/ADP and citrate.

6) Question 7 as well. Pls note that there is no competitive inhibition even though PKF reaches max activity at substrate concentration. The shape is wrong.
You also know it as an allosteric enzyme.
The management of PKF is actually very complex so I will leave it out here for now.

I will go through the answers properly when school reopens. Conceptually, things are fine so I will just round up the points you need to take note of.

For DNA genomics, there will be no answers given to be fair to all classes. However, I would recommend you to do MCQs to test your understanding of the topic itself.

To top it off:
Respiration MCQs










Cheers!! Happy Mugging!

Slowly all will be revealed

Sorry 3L, I can only mark your tutorial after sci camp.
But I promise to sort it out asap so that you can review your work.


I think I still own
1) respiration review
2) MCqs answers for respiration

Hope I din miss out anything.

It's the mostly the same for 3B yah?
I am free for consultation on Thurs and Fri k?

Cheers!!

Questions of the Weeks Round Up

1) For the photolysis of water, we talked about the highly oxidising nature of p680+. But isn't there a Mn complex involved?

Yes it is true. The Mn Complex will interact directly with water to extract the e- to be passed to p680+. But it is not required of you to know. =)

2) SER: tubular and RER: flattened?

A pic speaks a thousand words and better than the one I drew in class


3) How polypeptides can get into the lumen of RER?



The diagram shows that a partially formed polypeptide chain is directed to the RER by the peptide signal sequence where the rest of the polypeptide chain will then continue to be formed and entered the lumen.

4)
Cell Membrane

1 D 6 C 11 D
2 C 7 B 12 D
3 B 8 A 13 B
4 A 9 D 14 B
5 A 10 A 15 C

Common Mistakes/Correction to note:

4) the width is within 10nanometers!
7) you should know the nature of the core of bilayer; having a fluid mosaic is a consequence not a reason.
9) aerobic = there is production of large amounts of ATP; from the table we can deduce that the first two rows undergo passive diffusion and active transport but active transport is halted under anerobic conditions.
11) if you choice include any of the proteins, you are not listening in class when I mentioned that the presence of proteins to affect fluidity is only a minor point and definitely not their main purposes.
14) same above in 11.
15) similar to 9 whereby air bubbled implied oxygen introduced into culture → aerobic respiration.


Cell Structure


1 D 6 C 11 B 16 D
2 E 7 A 12 C 17 B
3 D 8 E 13 D 18 D
4 C 9 C 14 A 19 A
5 C 10 D 15 B 20 C


Common Mistakes/Corrections to note:

2) sucrose: used to maintain osmotic difference of the mitochondria with its external environment so that one can view it in its native shape under microscope.
5) at the slowest speed, the most dense organelles will be spun down and that will be the nuclei/dna.
6) you should know this!
7) B is wrong. It is pointing to the RER/ribosomes where rRNA/mRNA and maybe even tRNA are present.
9) hydrolytic enzymes are found in lysosomes!
10) expected to know. It is also the site for carbohydrate synthesis and detoxification
11) B is correct; bacteria do have cell wall.
13) D: NADP is found in chloroplasts; NAD is found in mitochondria; membrane- bound enzymes refers to enzymes that are bound to the membrane e.g. ETC which is made up of a series of enzymes (although we did not go into the details) like oxidase, reductase. Try Wiki.
17) refer to 9
19) (In metabolism some substances are broken down to yield energy for vital processes while other substances, necessary for life, are synthesized) so all we need to recognise is that products can be exported out of cell via exocytosis or budded off to another site within cell where the products are needed.
20) another major featuer of prokaryotic cell; remember your essay comparing chloroplast and mitochorion?

Gen XYZ

Yesterday there was an article on Gen Y which left me thinking, which generation am I in? Found in the dead center of a crossroad of changes, my conclusion is a hybrid of X & Y.
The generation Y saw the rapid technological changes that manifested themselves in handphones, broadband computers, blogging and facebook to name a few. There is also a greater sense of individuality that prompted one to make reference to more self-confidence and possibility creativity which sometimes is really an illusion because sometimes there is a lack of maturity to handle those qualities and perhaps that is why we are seeing many more cases of youths falling into their own insecurities and turning to petty defiances. There are more venues of connections between people with facebook, friendster, myspace and maybe other virtual worlds that I am really ignorant about. For some, the gulf of human interactions did not close up because of these avenues but instead widen because relationship becomes superficial with 1000 names in your messenger but only 10 you can really turn to when you are in need - yet with 1000 names, do you make reach out to the 10 to let them know they matters? For others (like me) such avenue is a blessing as I seek out long-lost friends that dated back to primary school, overseas encounters which made a difference in my life and even just my current friends whom I cherished but went away.
If I may say, Gen Y is an exciting time when the tides may swing for each individual. It proposes a sense of purpose to create, to explore and to make a difference.

On a comparative note, Gen X is more subtle, resilient and empathetic. There wasn't so much encouraging notions and demands from the adults to the youths. We worked hard, failed with much heartbreak and moved on again. Through the failures, we gained a little bit of wisdom that we took with us through life. Without the virtual worlds, we chitchat around a real coffee table with our friends to learn not about the world issues that seemed so foreign and far away but more about things closest to us like relationships, difficulties in life and simply about life itself. There were many reflective moments that let us make connections not only with people but with life in general. These days empathy is often lacking because there are so many distractions and the fast pace at which things run, we often fail to sit down and ponder a little more about ourselves and issues around us, and that we all have social responsibility. I confess that these days I myself is losing my touch and I get a little upset about it once in a while and perform my own little rebellion against the senseless charging of life. But really, it doesn't take much to pause. Yesterday I went Toa Payoh library and I saw Ice-cream Uncle. I am not sure how many of us is a frequent patron of TP but uncle has been there for years. Years before other ice-cream men came to claim a piece of the earnings in a 10 metre radius. Uncle may not have a fancy vehicle with colorful display of various ice-cream or even look clean by other standards, but I will always buy from uncle, sometimes even when I am not sure if I want an ice-cream. I did not think uncle remember me to offer me a big cone but I will buy from him because he is getting old and I think he does not get as much business as the newcomers so if I can reach out, why not?
But I think gen x pple are a bit slow in learning not because we are less able but because we are so much more cautious with the moves we choose to take.

gen x or y?
I learnt how to type when I was 20 while in NS. I got my first hp after my first Uni exams, I am unclear about the notion of LAN but started on my first proper blog because of my students 2 years ago. I suppose I am catching up to a certain extent and learning but the cautious me will take a step back each time to remind me not to get overwhelmed and to get back to basics.

caught at a crossroad, life is not necessarily bad. I want to teach my kids the good and bad things of both generations. There are values that we should not forget lest the fabrics of the world collapse. Already I am seeing it.
I want to remind them that they are entering into the world of gen x when they come out of their studies...only to remind myself that I too will become obselete in 20 years' time.

Sad or Angry

I reprimanded my class today. Mmm.. maybe reprimanding is the wrong word because I am real lousy at that. I was speaking from my heart would be more accurate. I told my friends that I am always weary after such a session. Then he reminded me that my tiredness did not come from an outburst/anger but from sadness. Sadness he said, is more tiring than anger. After all the effort, all the reminders and all the giving, it was sadness not anger.

I looked at these kids and thought, regardless how they did in their previous schools, here in the college it is a fresh new start. I was sad because I worried that they belittle themselves when they can be so much more. I have seen some bright sparks but their fires always dimmed before they have a chance to burn. I do not think they realise it themselves. And if we have a weaker foundation, it just means that we have to work harder to catch up, to be more responsible with ourselves and our goals at the end of the day. Slowly but surely together as a class we will make it there unless we choose not to work at it.
A friend said that I worried too much and perhaps I do but only because they meant something to me even when they waddle through the lessons with playfulness and some cheekiness. A time to play and a time to pay attention, we all need to work on that.

The day passes and while the sadness loses its core after seeing these silly kids with their grins at their ccas in the evening, I have to continue making some worksheets that I decided to create after much contemplation since last week.


*It is not my first heartbreak but perhaps there is more because of greater expectations of myself this year. When I first came in to teach a class of 07, they told me that they have learnt nothing from the relief teacher for a whole semester except that she loves char siew bun. And it was reflected in their fundamental in biological molecules and earlier topics which somehow, some never ever recovered from. I thought I will work hard this time to make sure that that doesn't happen to my kids. but I can only hope so.