Through the Eyes of a Freshman Golden
  • ♈ Aries:

    Hyperactivity, headaches, impulsivity, recklessness, hostility, frustration, confrontation, restlessness, rapid speech, over thinking, displays of vulnerability and need for reassurance, inability to complete minor tasks

  • ♉ Taurus:

    Reservation; they will dissociate into their own worlds and be untouchable, binge eating, compulsivity (cleaning, organizing, hand washing), silence; anxiety will come in waves for Taurus and be sustained for a long period, sore throat, 'blank' mindedness

  • ♊ Gemini:

    Giggling, restlessness, rapid speech, talkativeness, tremors, hyperactivity, distractibility, racing thoughts, insomnia, inability to stay focused on and complete even minor tasks, loud and more talkative inner monologue, chest/lung discomfort

  • ♋ Cancer:

    Teariness, catastrophized thinking, imagination worst case scenarios, inability to stop distressing thoughts and inner monologue, drifting off/inability to focus, food cravings, isolation but co-current feelings of neediness and reassurance, stomach cramps and nausea

  • ♌ Leo:

    Frustration, hostility, catastrophizing (imagining and living worst case scenarios) martyrdom, impulsivity, binge eating/drinking, they tend to go out of their way to help and do things for other people/keep busy in service, back pain, somatic troubles

  • ♍ Virgo:

    Digestive upset, restlessness, repetitive movements (hair twirling, counting) tremor, rapid thinking, withdrawal into isolated 'bubble', compulsive tasks (cleaning, organizing), need to keep busy and distracted may pace back and forth

  • ♎ Libra:

    Unusual quietness, increased needs for re assurance, stomach upset, restlessness, distractibility, insomnia, negative inner monologue, catastrophized imagination, repetitive hand motions, inability to explain themselves or say they are unwell

  • ♏ Scorpio:

    Increased need for control, hostility, violent frustration (wall kicking, throwing objects), irrationality, increased obsessiveness - they may spend hours and hours focused on one task almost manically, rejection of others though frustration they are not 'there', flashbacks

  • ♐ Sagittarius:

    Increased vocal volume, higher impulsivity, hostility, hyperactivity - they are liable to go out running or try to repress it physically, substance use, rapid thoughts, recklessness, giggling, distractible, back pain

  • ♑ Capricorn:

    Tension, overwhelming feelings of butterflies and nerves inside especially in their stomachs although they remain composed externally. Over thinking and inability to distract themselves from worst case scenario, hostility, isolation, tendency to take on more work shifts or responsibilities

  • ♒ Aquarius:

    Talkativeness, rapid speech, over thinking, restlessness, insomnia, confusion; Aquarians will feel anxious or nervous yet have little insight into why they feel this way or what is causing it, their minds and emotional responses are not connected, back pain

  • ♓ Pisces:

    Teariness, catastrophized thinking, inability to distract or change thought patterns, flashbacks, hysteria, chest discomfort, digestive upset/nausea, irrationality, distressing inner monologue, substance use, increased need for assurance

29 / 04
33,728 notes

(via greenlazer)

29 / 04
212,370 notes

missbeatlegeorge:

I feel that Meryl Streep’s acting in “The Devil Wears Prada” was a good representation of how I feel in school:

when in the hallways:

image

when someone makes a big deal out of a poor test grade:

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when I’m done presenting something in class and it gets awkwardly silent:

image

when I get a poor grade on a test:

image

when someone says something incredibly stupid:

image

when someone keeps asking me for the answers on homework or tests:

image

she is my spirit animal

(via greenlazer)

25 / 04
41,901 notes
neurosciencestuff: Scientists reverse memory loss in animal brain cells Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Using sea snail nerve cells, the scientists reversed memory loss by determining when the cells were primed for learning. The scientists were able to help the cells compensate for memory loss by retraining them through the use of optimized training schedules. Findings of this proof-of-principle study appear in the April 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. “Although much works remains to be done, we have demonstrated the feasibility of our new strategy to help overcome memory deficits,” said John “Jack” Byrne, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, as well as director of the W.M. Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the UTHealth Medical School. This latest study builds on Byrne’s 2012 investigation that pioneered this memory enhancement strategy. The 2012 study showed a significant increase in long-term memory in healthy sea snails called Aplysia californica, an animal that has a simple nervous system, but with cells having properties similar to other more advanced species including humans. Yili Zhang, Ph.D., the study’s co-lead author and a research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, has developed a sophisticated mathematical model that can predict when the biochemical processes in the snail’s brain are primed for learning. Her model is based on five training sessions scheduled at different time intervals ranging from 5 to 50 minutes. It can generate 10,000 different schedules and identify the schedule most attuned to optimum learning. “The logical follow-up question was whether you could use the same strategy to overcome a deficit in memory,” Byrne said. “Memory is due to a change in the strength of the connections among neurons. In many diseases associated with memory deficits, the change is blocked.” To test whether their strategy would help with memory loss, Rong-Yu Liu, Ph.D., co-lead author and senior research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, simulated a brain disorder in a cell culture by taking sensory cells from the sea snails and blocking the activity of a gene that produces a memory protein. This resulted in a significant impairment in the strength of the neurons’ connections, which is responsible for long-term memory. To mimic training sessions, cells were administered a chemical at intervals prescribed by the mathematical model. After five training sessions, which like the earlier study were at irregular intervals, the strength of the connections returned to near normal in the impaired cells. “This methodology may apply to humans if we can identify the same biochemical processes in humans. Our results suggest a new strategy for treatments of cognitive impairment.  Mathematical models might help design therapies that optimize the combination of training protocols with traditional drug treatments,” Byrne said. He added, “Combining these two could enhance the effectiveness of the latter while compensating at least in part for any limitations or undesirable side effects of drugs. These two approaches are likely to be more effective together than separately and may have broad generalities in treating individuals with learning and memory deficits.” (Image courtesy: UC Berkeley)

neurosciencestuff:

Scientists reverse memory loss in animal brain cells

Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Using sea snail nerve cells, the scientists reversed memory loss by determining when the cells were primed for learning. The scientists were able to help the cells compensate for memory loss by retraining them through the use of optimized training schedules. Findings of this proof-of-principle study appear in the April 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

“Although much works remains to be done, we have demonstrated the feasibility of our new strategy to help overcome memory deficits,” said John “Jack” Byrne, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, as well as director of the W.M. Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the UTHealth Medical School.

This latest study builds on Byrne’s 2012 investigation that pioneered this memory enhancement strategy. The 2012 study showed a significant increase in long-term memory in healthy sea snails called Aplysia californica, an animal that has a simple nervous system, but with cells having properties similar to other more advanced species including humans.

Yili Zhang, Ph.D., the study’s co-lead author and a research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, has developed a sophisticated mathematical model that can predict when the biochemical processes in the snail’s brain are primed for learning.

Her model is based on five training sessions scheduled at different time intervals ranging from 5 to 50 minutes. It can generate 10,000 different schedules and identify the schedule most attuned to optimum learning.

“The logical follow-up question was whether you could use the same strategy to overcome a deficit in memory,” Byrne said. “Memory is due to a change in the strength of the connections among neurons. In many diseases associated with memory deficits, the change is blocked.”

To test whether their strategy would help with memory loss, Rong-Yu Liu, Ph.D., co-lead author and senior research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, simulated a brain disorder in a cell culture by taking sensory cells from the sea snails and blocking the activity of a gene that produces a memory protein. This resulted in a significant impairment in the strength of the neurons’ connections, which is responsible for long-term memory.

To mimic training sessions, cells were administered a chemical at intervals prescribed by the mathematical model. After five training sessions, which like the earlier study were at irregular intervals, the strength of the connections returned to near normal in the impaired cells.

“This methodology may apply to humans if we can identify the same biochemical processes in humans. Our results suggest a new strategy for treatments of cognitive impairment.  Mathematical models might help design therapies that optimize the combination of training protocols with traditional drug treatments,” Byrne said.

He added, “Combining these two could enhance the effectiveness of the latter while compensating at least in part for any limitations or undesirable side effects of drugs. These two approaches are likely to be more effective together than separately and may have broad generalities in treating individuals with learning and memory deficits.”

(Image courtesy: UC Berkeley)

(via biologylair)

19 / 04
374 notes
medicalschool: World’s First Bionic Eye Receives FDA Approval http://goo.gl/SQ36e The new retinal prosthesis, called Argus II, can restore partial sight to people blinded by a degenerative eye disease. The Argus II works by substituting a small array of electrodes for the light-sensing cells that normally react to light by sending an electric signal toward the back of the retina. Those signals are relayed to the optic nerve behind the eye, and travel back along the nerve to the brain. In people with the genetic disease Retinitis pigmentosa, which affects about 100,000 people in the U.S. today, those light-sensing cells gradually stop working, resulting in total blindness. In addition to the electrode array, which is implanted in the retina at the back of the eye, the Argus II system consists of a small video camera attached to a pair of eyeglasses and a visual processor the user carries around their waist. Data from the video camera is sent to the visual processor and then back to the glasses, where it is transmitted wirelessly to the embedded electrodes.

medicalschool:

World’s First Bionic Eye Receives FDA Approval

http://goo.gl/SQ36e

The new retinal prosthesis, called Argus II, can restore partial sight to people blinded by a degenerative eye disease. The Argus II works by substituting a small array of electrodes for the light-sensing cells that normally react to light by sending an electric signal toward the back of the retina. Those signals are relayed to the optic nerve behind the eye, and travel back along the nerve to the brain. In people with the genetic disease Retinitis pigmentosa, which affects about 100,000 people in the U.S. today, those light-sensing cells gradually stop working, resulting in total blindness. In addition to the electrode array, which is implanted in the retina at the back of the eye, the Argus II system consists of a small video camera attached to a pair of eyeglasses and a visual processor the user carries around their waist. Data from the video camera is sent to the visual processor and then back to the glasses, where it is transmitted wirelessly to the embedded electrodes.

(Source: holdinghope, via biologylair)

11 / 03
3,090 notes

// Italy Bound?//

This semester I am only taking 14.5 credit hours. It’s going smoothly so far and I’m having a blast! Over Winter Break I went back to New Mexico and go to see my friends and family and I also got to eat some much needed Mexican food!

I was the first one back to my Residence Hall besides my RA so I got to settle in and do some laundry before the chaos of moving in started again. While I had some free time, I also went in to see the Study Abroad office and I am now currently planning my semester abroad in Italy. Traveling is one of my biggest passions and so far I’ve been to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I loved the UK and it’s one of my dreams to go back again.

Study abroad is a great opportunity that most students don’t take advantage of, although I don’t know why. Most of the time it costs about as much or even less than the current college tuition you are paying. It also gives you an edge when interviewing or turning in resumes for possible jobs. Not many students have experience abroad and you can definitely stand out by saying you know the culture or language of a specific nation. If you feel like you don’t have a whole semester to commit to study abroad, there are also research sessions abroad. Mines partners up with a bunch of overseas schools and you can take your pick at any of them!

The Office of International Programs is very helpful, even when you don’t where to start or you have no idea where you want to go. I hope you take advantage of all your resources!

08 / 03
0 notes

// Christmas Cheer//

Final exams are coming up so fast and the semester is approaching a stop. Homework is dwindling down and we are starting Dead Week (the week before final exams). It is a time when studying is 24/7 in preparation for our last exams of the semester. I personally have four final exams this semester in Calculus III, Physics I, Biological and Environmental Systems, and Principles of Chemistry I. I am hoping to maintain a 3.0 GPA this semester and throughout my college career. So far, it is looking good and everyone knows that after final exams comes Winter Break!

Winter Break excitement is high and you can smell the holiday season in the Residence Halls. Smells of hot apple cider and hot chocolate waft down the halls and you can see Christmas lights hanging in the windows. Groups of students are having Christmas parties and exchanging White Elephant gifts (as seen in the picture). Even the city of Golden has gotten the holiday spirit, and lights have been put up all around the town.

Going back to New Mexico for the first time after moving to Golden is going to be an experience. I can’t wait to see all of my family and spend Christmas with them. But I also know that I have grown since being in college and my family and friends have also grown in these past few months. It will be interesting to see how our relationships have evolved. I am also dying for some home-cooked food!

I will let you know how everything goes! Happy Holidays!

06 / 03
0 notes
CSM 101 project

CSM 101 project

31 / 10
0 notes
2012 Pledge Class :)

2012 Pledge Class :)

31 / 10
0 notes

// Snow, Slides and Spring//

Fall Break has FINALLY come and it has been strategically placed between the two weeks of second exams. Stress levels are slowly descending and everyone is rushing to go home. The first day of Fall Break, everyone does nothing and it takes a thousand pounds off of your shoulders because from the day we start school to the day before Fall Break we are studying, doing homework, involved with clubs and doing community service. By the end of Fall Break we get in much needed social time and we also catch up on our studies. During my Fall Break, I was a volunteer cashier at a local pumpkin patch, I got initiated into my sorority (as pictured in our white dresses), I saw the movie Pitch Perfect and I also worked on a group project.  

With Fall Break also comes the first snow…well, at least that’s what I had heard and I am happy to say that the rumors are correct! I woke up to exercise and as I descended down the steps of my residence hall I saw it. It was magical. Soft flurries of snow fell over my head and eventually landed on a blanket of white. The walk to the Student Rec Center was blissfully quiet. All day people were making snowmen (including me, as seen in the picture) and having snowball fights.

The next day I had to do a school project for CSM 101, a class all freshman are required to take. Our group had to make a video about attractions in Golden. We met on a Sunday morning (all Sundays are designated homework days here at Mines) and we traveled to the Alpine Slide at Heritage Square and to Golden Bowl. The video was an awesome assignment because I got to contribute in my own way and I learned more about my classmates.

Students are already signing up for spring semester classes and it is quite busy. I have to go back to doing homework but I will write again soon! Happy Halloween! :)

31 / 10
0 notes
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