discouraged

There are times, when we feel discouraged , damaged, drained, dejected... in simple terms... pure EMO!

Well, let me tell you about my emo weekend ! Every event that happened last week, accumulated and led me to become discouraged... I had become so pessimistic, I was so down... That I became immobilized. I had a fantastic day arranged with a loved one on Friday... but I had to cancel that... because I only wanted to sit at home... and drown in my own misfortune.

Often ... if Im sad or grumpy or cranky.. or whatever... I do one of two things: I either clean (excessively) or sleep (excessively).

The insomniac that I am... I decided to sleep... but couldn't... so I took a sleeping pill ! (two to be exact). I hallucinated for a while... and it took me three hours until i finally fell asleep (at 3am). I woke the next day at 3 pm ... I was so cranky... but I decided to make a change !! I decided that I could no longer let my emotions take over me. I had to change... not a tiny change... but a lifestyle change. So I decided to begin by changing my environment. I spent the entire Saturday and most of Sunday remodelling my entire room. Alone. (ps. My muscles are in a lot of pain.. moving a huge bed, a desk, a book case... all on my own...ouchies).

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going"

-Jim Ryun

I will update you about this change... I realize that I didn't specify why I was so down... maybe one day I will...

but for now, I want to leave you with a couple of encouraging quotes:

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."

- Alexander Graham Bell

“Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”

- Ghandhi

Adenovirus disrupts cancer cells !!!! or they HOPE

Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

Ok, so we know that our precious p53 (which is a tumor suppressor protein) is involved in preventing cancer. So p53 generally eliminates abnormal cells from the body ( or any virus-infected cells). Similar to tumor cells adenoviruses (main cause of upper respiratory infections) multiply better when p53 is not around.

According to Dr. O'Shea, adenoviruses do not inactivate p53 directly. Instead, they target the genome itself. Adenovirus brings in E1B-55K (a protein encoded by the E1B genomic region of Adenovirus), which binds to and degrades p53... and thus inhibiting apoptosis in the infected cells. So if adenovirus didn't have E1B-55K, it wouldn't be able to inactivate p53, and would only be able to replicated in tumor cells that are p53-deficient. So then, each time it ruptures the host cell to release viral progenies, the next generation of viruses leave normal cells unharmed while seeking out the remaining cancer cells. And According to Dr. O'Shea,

"This makes adenovirus a perfect candidate for oncolytic cancer therapy."

Dr. Conrado Soria, notes that "the inability of the E1B-55K-mutant virus to replicate in normal cells was not because the virus failed to degrade p53."

Due to rapid degradation, p53 is found to be at low levels in normal and unstressed cells. However, if there is DNA damage, activation of oncogenes or infection, degradation of p53 is stopped and thus its levels accumulate. This accumulation stop the cell cycle or induce apoptosis by activating p53 target genes. As Dr. Soria predicted, normal cells that had been infected with adenovirus that LACKED E1B-55K, p53 accumulated but target genes were still able to be turned on ... making apoptosis possible. This is because of another protein in the adenovirus ! YAY ! The E4-ORF3 ... this protein is a beast ! It modifies chromatin, so that parts of chromosomes condenses into heterochromatin, so that the regulatory regions of p53 target genes somewhere thats inaccessible. Therefore, the tumor suppressor cant bind to its target genes anymore, p53 becomes useless and apoptosis no longer occurs.

What does all this mean? it means that Dr. O'Shea "HOPES" to understand how high levels of wild type p53 may be inactivated in cancer ! He says, "our study really changes the longstanding definition of how p53 is inactivated in adenovirus-infected cells and will finally allow us to develop true p53 tumor selective oncolytic therapies."

Change

I believe that people are capable of change... under 2 conditions

a) They must be strong enough to realize that there is something in need of a change. For example, you must be strong enough to realize WITHIN yourself that a flaw exists... and that the flaw needs to be changed in order for progress to occur.

Then, you either have condition b or c.

b) Circumstances in life FORCE you to change. That is, a life event requires you to make a change.

OR

c) You truly NEED and WANT and DESIRE to make a change.

It's important for humans to be dynamic and fluid... Change is an essential component of life. The change I refer to, is the changes we need to make within ourselves... to become better... or atleast to strive to become better. In life, we only have ourselves to rely on. You are the maker of your own life. If you want your life to be better... then do it ! If you want to be a better person... then do it ! Anything you want from life... YOU must strive for.

I will repeat myself ... "If you dont like something.. change it ! If you can't change it... change the way you think about it." As YOU are the only thing that you have full and utter control over in life.

Trust life – it knows best

Someone I have recently befriended decided to make a "guest appearance" on my blog. He is one of the most dedicated men I know. We usually hold very deep conversations- and often times, we agree with each other's opinion. So don't be surprised when you read below and see a similarity between our ideologies. You will soon see how intelligent he really is. Thank you Sergei for putting in the time to write for me. I hope to see more of your work in my inbox. hehe

Ps. Sergei is the same guy who suggested "As a man thinketh" to me.

Trust Life- It knows best

There is a great deal of emphasis placed on goals and fulfillment of individual desires in today’s society. People are constantly bombarded with the message, “If you want to be happy and achieve success, figure out what you want and set goals.” And to a large extent this message rings true. It is fundamentally important to know what one wants in life and take proactive steps to get it.

Unfortunately, turning those goals and desires into reality is not an easy task. With all the challenges that life presents in itself, the pressure of achievement and fulfillment only adds to the burden of life. Although this “extra” burden pays off in the long run, in the short run it becomes quite heavy to bear. I don’t care who you, where you are or what you do, you will encounter setbacks, disappointments and failure. It is an essential law of life that adds contrast to success, joy and fulfillment.

The way you approach this single law will determine not only the extent to which you achieve your desired outcomes but also the extent to which you get to experience the journey of life. See, life will not always give you what you want but it will always give you what you need. I, personally, have recently gone through a break up with a person in whom I put a lot of unjustified faith, belief and confidence. I blindly threw a large part of myself into this other person believing that they will fulfill my expectations. Fortunately, I was wrong. And I say fortunately because in the end, this experience alone has taught me much more than any book or person could. Life is the best teacher and your interpretation of it will define your aptitude as a student.

The point of the story is simple. I did not get what I wanted but I got more than I needed. And life will give you what you need even though you might not necessarily like it. It might not give you what you want at a particular moment but it will always give you the things you need to be in the best position you can be in the long term. Off course, this might seem like a generalization and partially it is but if you are able to engrain this mindset into your character, no matter what happens to you in life, this mindset alone will carry you a long way from a place of weakness to a place of great strength. Because at the end, if you are able to trust life and put your entire faith into it, you will realize that every circumstance, event and experience – no matter how painful, stressful or disappointing – serves a purpose of improving yourself and your life if only you accept and learn from it.

"They themselves are makers of themselves"

I realize I haven't blogged in some time- perhaps because my mind has been very scattered lately.

I'd like to do a quick blog !

In a conversation with someone whom I respect a lot, I was referred to read "As a Man Thinketh" by James Allen. If you have not read it- I highly recommend it. It's a short read; nevertheless, incredibly powerful.

I truly believe that the only thing we have power over in this world, is our mind. I believe that " I think, therefore I am." I'd like to make reference to a couple of quotes by James Allen (from his first chapter):

"As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills."

"[Man] is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove: if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances; if he will link cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself."