The Who...Sound Science for a Scientist.

These fellows got me through high school. Guitars turned out to be my drug of choice, and I figured a tiny guy like me better keep and use his brain to get somewhere. So, very scientific choice for a future scientist. I mostly discovered the who in junior high, helping file records away in the CHCL 1450AM record library, where Mom and Dad were volunteer DJs. Cold Lake, Grand Centre, Alberta.

There was a wall bin unit in the 45 library with a stack of 100 singles for each year since the late 50s. Over a the next year, i listened to every one. One year at a time. In early 60s, i put My Generation on the library turntable, headphones on. Those big ones that enclose your ears.

Later The Kids Are Alright movie came out too, and I had my parents order the soundtrack. Radio stations could see lists of release dates and order vinyl weeks before a store in the big city (Edmonton) would get them.

Awesome. The science of sound.

Dr Mitton listening to #TheWho ... Behind Blue @eyeresearchers. ;) @OaklandU https://t.co/skgEXjsFIv https://twitter.com/kpmitton/status/703824562157260800

Depression and Stress in College Students is Common: Its not just you.

Read a bit about depression in college students in my other blog at Wordpress. Over 50% of college students experience depression or problems from stress in their first few years of college. If that is you, it was me too, and you are not alone.

Read more here at the blog on my website at KenMitton.com :

https://kenmitton.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/depression-is-a-trip/

Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research: 15th Annual Symposium. July 31, 2015

The Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research: 15th Annual Symposium is coming up on July 31, 2015. Another seven OU undergraduate bioscience students will be presenting talks on their summer research experiences here in the Eye Research Institute of Oakland University. While this is year 15 for the formal SUPER program, OU and other Michigan college and high school students have been training in the ERI ever since our institute was founded by Dr Kinsey over 40 years ago. SUPER program alumni achieve an extremely high participation rate in entering professional and graduate schools.

Recent SUPER students from past years continue to move along in their training and careers in graduate school, medical school, dental school and optometry school. For example, SUPER alum Mary Cha (US Army active reserve) has served as a medic in Afganistan and is starting medical school at MSU this fall. Trung Tran has obtained a Masters degree in public health from Washington University and is starting medical school at Wayne State this fall.

SUPER scholars work on real research projects in ERI laboratories and most will obtain co-authorships at some point on research publications from our labs. Scholars have applied for the program in the past winter term, maintain a minimum GPA, write an application essay, and go through interview with ERI faculty. The seven SUPER students this summer also had a $3,500 paid scholarship for the 12 week program. Students also received a basic science or clinical ophthalmology lecture from ERI and Beaumont Ophthalmology faculty each week.

We thank all those who support the program with funding, including the ERI itself, OU’s Provost Office (Dr Lentini), OU’s Center for Biomedical Research (Dr Brad Roth), the Vision Research ROPARD Foundation and Richard Skipper, President and CEO of SKIHI Enterprises in Fort Worth, Texas. Together we are all training future leaders, scientists, engineers and medical professionals.

IThis year’s program in, 302 Pawley Hall:

9:15 a.m. – Welcome and Introduction
Dr. Frank J. Giblin, Director ERI

9:30 a.m. – Caroline Cencer (Dr. Giblin)
UVB induced cataractogenesis: the story of DNA repair in the human lens

9:45 a.m. – Jonathan Cheon (Dr. Giblin)
Understanding cataracts: a biochemical exploration of crystallin protein aggregation in the lens

10:00 a.m. – Natalie Wardia (Dr. Drenser)
Maintaining and restoring adherens and tight junction connections between retinal vascular endothelial cells

10:15 a.m. – Nicole Roussey (Dr. Goldberg)
Does Peripherin-2/rds (P/rds) shape membranes using disulfide bonds?

10:30 a.m. – Quentin Thompkins (Dr.Mitton)
Mechanisms of retina stress: the effects of exercise in type-1 diabetic rats

10:45 a.m. – Naveena Daram (Dr. Chintala)
Tissue and urokinase plasminogen activators instigate the Degeneration of Retinal Ganglion Cells in a Mouse Model of Glaucoma

11:00 a.m. – Joshua Hohlbein (Dr. Zhang)
Cholinergic Amacrine Cell Survival Contrasts the Loss of AII Amacrine Cells in a Mouse Model of Oxygen-induced Retinopathy

11:15 a.m. – Presentation of Certificates
Dr. Kenneth P. Mitton, S.U.P.E.R. Coordinator

Lunch at Noon, 316 Pawley Hall

1 p.m. Guests’ tour of the ERI (Dodge Hall)

Student Photos with Mentors (403 DHE)

(KPM)

(also posted in Dr Mitton's professional blog at 

https://kenmitton.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/summer-undergraduate-program-in-eye-research-15th-annual-symposium-july-31-2015/ ) 

Michigan Cuts State's Share of University Student's Education Costs, then some Politicians Blame Universities for Tuition Increases.

So far, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University and now Oakland University are the first of Michigan's public universities to dare to increase tuition above the Michigan State Government's tuition cap. Breaking this cap results in a penalty through the loss of a portion of the State's funding support. However, these universities gain more funding through the tuition increases. Of course, sure enough, I hear sound-bites on the radio from State appropriation committee members suggesting that they add more teeth to penalize these universities further for raising tuition far more than the rate of inflation. Universities, in this State and around the country are accused of gouging students and wasting money. However, what these same politicians fail to mention is that they have also spent the last 20 years dramatically decreasing the State's percentage contribution to our student's education costs. As a matter of fact, in 2015, Michigan contributes a tiny 16% of an Oakland University student's education cost, compared to the early 1980s when Michigan contributed around 70% of a student's education cost. Your kid's and my kid's college tuition has increased more than the US inflation rate since 1980, but that is not a correct comparison. The education costs of a student at Oakland University has only increased the same as inflation since 1980. So why has the tuition component grown faster than inflation? Because, our State has dramatically decreased its contribution the education costs pie. If you want to see the numbers, and you like facts more than ideology, read on.

Zipline Science versus Zipline Law: sign the waiver and you're screwed.

Zip-lines. They are being installed in private recreation parks and even public parks all over the world. The physics is pretty simple. The cable is essentially a ramp on an decline. Gravity down force helps to translate your potential energy into kinetic energy. Frictional resistance on the cable and some air resistance on your body will limit your speed. Down you go. Fun huh? What happens if the zip-line goes down too, while you are on the line? What happens if the zip-line operator's equipment fails? If they are found to have failed to test and repair then you can sue for your medical bills, right? Wrong! You're screwed. Here is why.

Update: Grapefruit Juice Dangers if you take Lipitor or many other medicines.

Twenty years ago, around the time I was a graduate student in London Ontario at Western University (formerly called the University of Western Ontario), a clinical pharmacologist (David Bailey) at the Lawson Research Institute in London discovered that chemicals in grapefruit can cause normal doses of several drugs to become overdoses. This results from grapefruit causing the drug to become adsorbed much more efficiently than it would normally.