Postdoc Diary: Day 20 - Lost Week

Actually wake up on time this morning around 5:30 AM. Of course going to bed at 9 probably helped a little as well. Take L and head downstairs, we start by watching a little VH1 - I really am masochist by nature. The All-American Rejects Give you Hell video is on, catchy. I flip between this and the local news. Nothing much happening, going to be sunny yet again. They don't seem to have weather here, it is pretty much a constant sunny and dry. Although it will probably get hot in the summer but hopefully not as bad as Kansas - the humidity of the midwest sucks. X comes down right after J and we are both trapped on the couch by sleeping kids. I can smell java - oh my kingodom for a cup of joe. Eventually, J frees herself and brings a steaming cup of morning goodness to me. No Drama is in France, great a country that is pissed off at me from yesterday. So Obama gave the Europeans what they wanted yesterday, lets see if they provide what he needs for Afghanistan. This is dangerous territory for several reasons and it is unlikely that he will come away with what he needs. Although he seems to have had some success making headway with China and Russia. These two countries are incredibly important to the US because they have been the one buying up American debt, hence the reason the US does not push China on human rights. After a little more TV - upstairs I go to get ready - then off to work.

1. Discussion and Conclusion (mtDNA)
2. References (mtDNA)
3. Find Bindery for dissertation in S.A.
4. Chrm 9 Hrt Rate

• Run QTLD (AZ, All)
• SNP LD for DK-OK
  

5. MAPP data

• Run polygenic screen on remaining sixteen variables
• Run bivariate on remaining sixteen variables
• Run bivariate on Visits 1 and 3

6. Hook up TV and DVD in master bedroom

I get to work and go to work on the SNP LD stuff - after a little playing around I get this cool graphic.

This is an LD plot with the position on the bottom and the SNP on the side. So what the heck does that mean LD means linkage disequilibrium, which describes a situation in which some combinations of alleles or genetic markers occur more or less frequently in a population than would be expected from a random formation of haplotypes . Non-random associations between polymorphisms at different loci are measured by the degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD). The level of linkage disequilibrium is influenced by a number of factors including genetic linkage, the rate of recombination, the rate of mutation, drift, assortative mating, and population structure. So this graph is basically an easy way to describe that. It is basically correlation so where you see the bright red, those SNPs are highly correlated with each other indicating that they are significant because of this correlation and not because of the phenotype we are intrested in. I need to do three of these for OK and one for DK.

I also get a response for the e-mail I did a while ago on the dissertation binding. There is one in San Antonio, which I call $76 a pop, plus I have to print it. There is another one but you need to do 1,000 copies - um nope. That leaves the online version, which is $55 plus shipping looks like that is the route I have to go. I wanted to get more but right now it is 62.50 per copy looks like 2 for the time being. I guess that answers that question.

I talk to J, I forgot to mention the spicy chocolate incident. Yesterday, I bought this Lindt Dark Chocolate with chili. Besides the awkward conversation I had with the cashier at the grocery store it was quite tasty. However, about 10 minutes after comsuming it in my normal rapid fashion, I was overcome with a serious hotflash - now not being female and menopausal this is not normal - so I had J feel me but she said I was cold and clammy. Moral of story - don't eat this candy bar rapidly. Although I really want another one, the crap is addictive like crack.

Here a few things I checked out today.

Cholesterol Crystals Linked To Cardiovascular Attacks

Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Scans for Human Adult Stature Identifies Novel Loci and Associations with Measures of Skeletal Frame Size

The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula

I head home for dinner with J and the kids. We have Matzo ball soup - oh the yumminess of Yiddish comfort food. Then J is off for her walk and I take X up for his path, but C and S also jump in. I try and read Prey. Then J is back and we head back downstairs to watch the Top one hundred one hit wonders of the 1980s. I slept through most of it the night before. C is asleep by the time we come downstairs, then X. However, S is enthralled by it. Even X's theme song makes a debut Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder. Hopefully X doesn't grow the afro and goofy 'stache. Other highlights included Big Country In a Big Country, Madness Our House although One Step Beyond is better and I'm not sure they should be considered a one hit wonder. "Frackin Yanks". Also, She Blinded Me with Science by Thomas Dolby, and I'll Melt with You by Modern English. Sadly, I remeber when all these songs came out and I used to rock out to them on my cassette player. Although I did own a 12' vinyl copy of the extended version of You Spin Me Right Round. I should admit a good number of these songs are also on the ipod. At some point during the last hour I fell asleep with L on my chest.