JavaOne 2008 is starting in couple of hours. I will be there all four days soaking in all the knowledge, fun and sharing about it in this blog.

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I am shocked beyond words. Yesterday night we happened to watch NE TV, a channel covering North-Eastean India. In it was a live coverage of a 20 year old dying from an accident caused by two racing bikers.

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Believe it or not, I am looking to stock some tamiflu just in case. I have asked our medicine supplier (yes, we have one) to get me 2-3 strips. There is a strong possibility that the H5N1 (Avian Flu) outbreak may not be controlled in time before it does significant damage to West Bengal & India.

Avian Flu has affected over half of West Bengal, India. It has even been detected 40 km (kilometers) away from where I live (Kolkata). It appears the state government has responded too little too late to contain the Avian Flu. An estimated 1,00,000+ chickens have died due to H5N1 virus. Human infection too has been suspected. The bottom line is:
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Last Sunday I went to IIT Alumni picnic in Ibiza resort in Kolkata. Check the slideshow (thanks to Siddharth Roy Chowdhury @ SAIL). Can you spot me?

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Of the 20,000 to 30,000 genes now thought to be in the human genome, most cells express only a very small part - which makes sense, a liver cell has little need for the DNA code that makes neurons.

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A beautiful educational musical video based on Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Stop the Fire”, explaining the process from conception to childbirth. It is made for MU med school class of 2010. The lyrics is below.

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Now this is something for religious bigots, who oppose embryonic stem cell research on ethical grounds (logically unsustainable but when have bigots listened to logic?), to chew upon. Latest research on cancer indicates that the dominant mechanism of cancer cells is to behave like early embryonic stem cells.

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Today I was reading a very interesting blog by Scott who has detailed analysis of all Dr. House episodes which are very engrossing to read. I also came across his experience as a medical student where he was treating a patient with severe depression - “Mrs. D was brought to the ER last night for severe depression. There was no suicide attempt; her family was worried because she was staying in bed and not willing to move for the past week. Since being brought to the ward last night, she hasn’t moved at all; she’s just lay in bed staring at the ceiling.” Scott (don’t know his last name) was assigned to work on her case. Let’s hear it his own words how Star Trek cures when even Thanksgiving or even love of family fails:
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Metz Fresh LLC of King City issued the recall of 8118 cases of spinach on Wednesday, after salmonella bacteria was found during a routine test of spinach it was processing for shipment according to company spokesman Greg Larson.

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