So this morning I went into work to help with the experiments being run this week. So I did that instead of riding. I also have a good bit of homework to get done; such as reading the Residual Function... article linked on the left. This article is a few years old, but still has a good bit of significance. We know that when a limb is amputated the brain area associated with the amputated limb is reassigned to other tasks to some degree. Also, because of disuse, there is some nerve degeneration that will occur in the nerve stump. Because of these problems it was unknown whether or not the nerve stump could be used to move a prosthetic limb or relay sensory data to the brain.
This article relates an experiment that showed that the stump could relay motor and sensor information from and to the brain. Further experiments need to be done as to the longevity of this ability, since this experiment was limited in scope. Furthermore, this experiment used a very few electrodes per amputee, many more will be needed for true functionality. Also, the electrodes used in this experiment, as is the standard with such experiments, used percutaneous (through the skin) connectors. More permanent solutions are being pursued in many laboratories including telemetry, percutaneous carbon connections and osseointegration. My website has a bit more information about this subject.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
St. George Weekend
Cycling:
The ride was rather nice. It was cold and quite windy the entire 30 miles. Joel caught a ride to the start with me. There was no where to use the bathroom at the ride start, which was unfortunate, but gave great incentive to reach the first rest stop quickly. I started off with all the fast people just because it was fun and downhill. At the first climb I dropped off of the front group and granny-geared my way to the top. Part way through we rode through a construction area with large 1" high metal plates in the road with deep sand patches on the right and the opposite lane of traffic on the left. I came upon this area just after a cyclist had gone down due to this mess. Fortunately he was unhurt, but his bike needed some work. Further on, in the midst of a long climb I came across a rider with a flat and no spare. I gave him my spare tube since it is good Karma to aid a cyclist in need. I was glad to see a sag van pull up behind us since they had a good floor pump and I only had a pathetic old mini pump.
At the first rest stop I found Joel (quite cold) had waited for me to show up. He decided to return with me instead of doing the full 100 miles as he had originally intended. It was nice to have someone to ride with even if he is much faster than I am. He was kind enough to drag me up the hills and into the head winds. A few miles before the end I dropped off his wheel and he rode in with another rider and I finished at my own snail's pace. A reasonably nice ride, all in all.
After we changed back at camp my husband drove us over to Snow Canyon and we scaled the Cinder Cone volcano. That was very tough but neat to have done.
The ride was rather nice. It was cold and quite windy the entire 30 miles. Joel caught a ride to the start with me. There was no where to use the bathroom at the ride start, which was unfortunate, but gave great incentive to reach the first rest stop quickly. I started off with all the fast people just because it was fun and downhill. At the first climb I dropped off of the front group and granny-geared my way to the top. Part way through we rode through a construction area with large 1" high metal plates in the road with deep sand patches on the right and the opposite lane of traffic on the left. I came upon this area just after a cyclist had gone down due to this mess. Fortunately he was unhurt, but his bike needed some work. Further on, in the midst of a long climb I came across a rider with a flat and no spare. I gave him my spare tube since it is good Karma to aid a cyclist in need. I was glad to see a sag van pull up behind us since they had a good floor pump and I only had a pathetic old mini pump.
At the first rest stop I found Joel (quite cold) had waited for me to show up. He decided to return with me instead of doing the full 100 miles as he had originally intended. It was nice to have someone to ride with even if he is much faster than I am. He was kind enough to drag me up the hills and into the head winds. A few miles before the end I dropped off his wheel and he rode in with another rider and I finished at my own snail's pace. A reasonably nice ride, all in all.
After we changed back at camp my husband drove us over to Snow Canyon and we scaled the Cinder Cone volcano. That was very tough but neat to have done.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
In the beginning (of this blog) ...
Cycling:
This weekend my husband and I will be traveling down to St. George so I can ride in the Tour of St. George. I wanted to do the 65 mile ride, but after struggling up a not-really-steep hill for 1/4 mile, I've decided that the 30 mile route might suite me better at this point.
Last week I rode a total of 20 miles. At one point my heart rate hit 240, so I need to give myself more time to acclimate.
Research:
This week there was a very interesting seminar on biosensors. The sensor is a partially bound double DNA helix attached to a gold electrode that has a fluorophore bleacher associated with it. One strand, B, of the DNA has a fluorescent end that, while bound in the double helix, is held away from the bleacher. Strand A of the DNA has a strong affinity for the target of the sensor. When the target is present, the double helix unbinds so that strand A can bind to the target. Strand B then falls into close contact with the bleacher so that target presence can be 'seen' by the absense of emitted electrons. See this page: http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/plaxco/index.shtml for more information.
This weekend my husband and I will be traveling down to St. George so I can ride in the Tour of St. George. I wanted to do the 65 mile ride, but after struggling up a not-really-steep hill for 1/4 mile, I've decided that the 30 mile route might suite me better at this point.
Last week I rode a total of 20 miles. At one point my heart rate hit 240, so I need to give myself more time to acclimate.
Research:
This week there was a very interesting seminar on biosensors. The sensor is a partially bound double DNA helix attached to a gold electrode that has a fluorophore bleacher associated with it. One strand, B, of the DNA has a fluorescent end that, while bound in the double helix, is held away from the bleacher. Strand A of the DNA has a strong affinity for the target of the sensor. When the target is present, the double helix unbinds so that strand A can bind to the target. Strand B then falls into close contact with the bleacher so that target presence can be 'seen' by the absense of emitted electrons. See this page: http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/plaxco/index.shtml for more information.
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