Debaser

Tryptophan: Succulent Sleep inducer, or Innocent Amino Acid??

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the discussion of tryptophan that I've overheard recently I did some reading to give me enough of a picture of the situation that I feel the need to enlighten my family and kin, and any meandering soul who stops in from the big city of the internet.

Tryptophan (also known as Trp, or W as in Elmer Fudd's "twyptofan") is an amino acid. There are about 20 amino acids that make up the vast bulk of all the protein in your body. Proteins do everything from carry oxygen in your blood (hemoglobin), break down food (enzymes), signal various systems (hormones), and move yourself around town (muscle). Protein is the major machinery of all living systems and makes up nearly all of the work and structure of living things. Tryptophan is a small part of protein and is freed when you digest protein in your stomach down to it's amino acids.

Tryptophan is found in higher amounts in turkey (0.24% by weight), but about the same amounts as beef (0.23%), chicken (0.24%) and pork (0.25%). Cheese has higher amounts of tryptophan than all these (0.32%). It's also found in reasonable amounts in a lot of plants (especially those with higher amounts of protein, makes sense).

Tryptophan can be converted to seratonin which regulates sleep, anger, and lots of other stuff (seratonin is even a component of some natural venoms and poisons, go figure). Any drowsiness associated with tryptophan is due to the increase of seratonin in the brain. This is most effective when taken on an empty stomach. Tryptophan can also be converted into Niacin which is converted into the stuff that allows metabolism.

So, is the after-dinner nap a turkey-induced nap? Some say no, and for good reason. The large amounts of carbohydrates and sugars eaten (stuffing, bread, pie, etc) during the feast are more likely to be the direct cause. It's most likely the blood sugar crash after eating such a sugar-rich meal. Indirectly tied to tryptophan/seratonin: eating lots of carbohydrates triggers insulin, which triggers the muscles to take in other amino acids and increase the concentration of tryptophan (if 1 in 20 people at a party are named Steve and then all Johns, Scotts, and Ryans are pulled away, now it's 1 in 10 people named Steve). In my opinion, this would be a very minor contribution to the Turkey-Day napping, since most of it is still bound up in food in your belly (sugars and carbohydrates dissolve and are absorbed easily; proteins-not as much)

So, turkey is not a sleeping drug (at least, not a very good one). But lots of carbs with some meat helping out should do the trick. Next year, make it a roast beef Thanksgiving and give it a shot. Or chicken wings. mmmmm, thanksgiving chicken winnnngggsmmmmm.

Sources: Science classes and textbooks, Wikipedia (when entries are heavily cited), howstuffworks.com, Medline Plus (online medical encyclopedia)

Here Comes Your Man

Let me esplain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up:

All done for now. The rough two weeks are over. I've got one more interview at U of Pacific on the 29th, next Wednesday. Loma Linda went well. I drove down, got a tour (the student giving the tour went to BYU as an undergrad, man LDS dental students are EVERYWHERE, I met like 20 of them at USC) and then spent an hour one-on-one with a woman in the admissions office. She wanted a mini life's story and just asked questions about me as a person. I feel like it went well. I hope I made a good impression. It was nice to be able to give credit to Heavenly Father for his help so openly to someone about this whole process and how much he has helped me. Loma Linda is a Seventh Day Adventist school, and they have similar standards of conduct to BYU. It was a nice campus, the dental school had nice facilities and equipment (all digital x-rays and records software, VERY nice). The student giving the tour said his big complaint as a student is that you don't get as much experience doing the specialty stuff as he'd like, since the clinic has its own specialty residents who do most of the cool stuff.

I wouldn't mind going to Loma Linda at all, I'd probably enjoy it.

USC was nice, but I still have mixed feelings about it. Their curriculum is a Problem Based Learning curriculum. The sciences are all taught through case or problem solving and personal research. Students are in groups of eight with a faculty advisor for each group. A problem is presented, all facts are stated. All possible solutions are thought of, and then research is done by the students to solve the problem. The goal is to get the students to be more resourceful, scientific, and to internalize the information more thoroughly than if they were taught it in a lecture. According to the student who let me stay at his place, the tests and midterm exams are full of practice Board Test questions, so you get them right as you can and the averages are usually around 40% (and curved, of course), and when you take the first part of the boards, you've seen all of the material before.

USC has a nice dental school, it's in LA, lots of LDS students, a strong clinical experience, and large class sizes. Not sure I like the large class size or the PBL curriculum. I'm sure it'd be fine, just different.

In Philadelphia, the guy who picked me up made the comment that he felt like he was called by the Lord to be a dental student in Philadelphia. Their ward had 175 baptisms last year, and with all the new members, if it hadn't been for so many dental students in the ward, things would be even more rough on the leaders and members there. I felt a little bit like a missionary while I was at Loma Linda yesterday. I'm sure that people in all professions and lifestyles feel that way as well, when sent to new areas and wards. This will probably happen more often as I get out and about, wherever I go.

As for now, I'm living the California Dream for the next few days: Driving a bright red classic mustang with a surfboard on top, going to the beach with my beach bunnies, eating In-N-Out, and loving the foggy mornings we've been getting. It's awesome. Today I tried surfing blind. Almost blind. I don't have any contacts anymore so while in the water without glasses I just have to do the best I can. It's not hard to see the waves and didn't feel hampered by that at all, but I got to talking to this guy from Kentucky stationed at Port Hueneme who's learning to surf on his own. We spent 20 minutes together in the water and I have no idea what he looks like because I was never close enough to see his face or distinguish his features.

Brick Is Red

Travelogue 11-12-2007

Yesterday, went to Philly 1st ward, brought back memories of Vancouver 1st ward. Seth and Leslie had something planned in Baltimore so they left after Sacrament meeting. I got to meet several dental students, and ate dinner with a couple of them. Then I just hung out at Seth and Leslie's place, studying the transit system and stuff.

Today, slept in till 9:30. Got up and after eating breakfast, worked on the USC packet I'm supposed to bring to the interview. It took a while.
Played Guitar Hero: Rock the 80's with Seth and Leslie and Ezra. Fun times. At lunch, played a little more Guitar Hero.
Got dropped off by Seth and Leslie at the 69th St station, bought a day pass, and hopped on the Market St. Subway/El-train. Rode it downtown, switch to the Broad St. Line (awesome stuff :-P the subway station smelled like pee and I was the only white guy most of the time, I tried to not stand out so much. The subway stations aren't like the ones you see in movies of New York, they're small, and narrow, and dimly lit, with long corridors. Way old too) Rode that up to the dental school. Not a bad neighborhood. Maybe it was the time of day, but not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Not Beverly Hills by a long shot, but not scary either. Picked up a copy of the packet they sent me in the mail that I was supposed to have with me tomorrow, looked around for a minute, and took off. I'd been pretty nervous trekking out on my own in a very strange city on a very unfamiliar transit system with nasty subway stations. After I left the dental school, I no longer cared. It took about the whole 40 minute trip to get used to it and the people, and everything. I was feeling pretty raw and out there when I first started ("What did I get myself into?")
Switched back to the Market St line and rode it out to almost the end of the line. The neighborhood there was pretty cool. Lots of shady stores and businesses, lots of garbage everywhere, lots of shady people milling about on street corners and in front of shady businesses. I dropped a letter off in the mail slot of a good friend and left. That would be a crazy area for a suburban-raised white guy to start his mission in. Nothing would phase you after that place. That'd be a cool area. Not a fun home, but a cool mission area :-)
Stopped to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War. I feel grateful tonight.
Walked about a mile down Market St in downtown Philadelphia, past a nice shopping area and to the City Hall: One of the coolest buildings I've seen in person. Big ol' statues and stone decorations. You walk through it into a courtyard and it's like this huge castle. Big gothic style clock tower. Huge.
Then I rode home. Trickiest part was knowing where the Drexel Manor stop was so I could pull the string to tell the trolley driver to stop. I shouldn't have worried. Three other people got off there too. A fun day. I've had a great time with Seth and Leslie.
Tomorrow I dress in my suit, with my backpack and garment bag and ride the train back out to the school for the interview. One of the dental students in the ward said he'd try to meet me at the trolley stop so we could ride together. From the interview I'm going strait to the airport via subway and train so's I can make my flight to LAX.

Cactus

This guy I work with, Christian Wiggo Axelgard (Its "Viggo") burned me an mp3 cd of some of his stuff to listen to in the car. This one is cool. So is "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots". Fun stuff. There's another one called "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" also by LCD Soundsystem. Way fun. Brings back memories.....

Speaking of music, I wondered if anyone picked up my challenge regarding the blog titles. If not, that's cool, just means I'm SNEAKY.

I had a really nice stay with some relatives in Vegas. They were extremely generous and hospitable. One of them has quite the personality and is rough around the edges, but a great big teddy bear. Very outspoken, it makes me laugh, I love it.

I was impressed with the school. They get their students started in the clinic working on patients near the end of the first year (doing injections and assisting). That's quick. The students there love the early exposure. Most schools don't start clinical stuff until the 3rd year. Some, the 2nd. Its a very new school, opened 2002, and they're still very flexible with working out any kinks or issues with the students. They love the dean and she regularly meets with each class and has open discussions about the program. The biggest criticism any of the students had was that all the classes are in the same lecture room while the professors come to them to teach, so they spend ALL DAY in the same room.

It's still a bit of a long shot. They invited 250-ish out-of-state people for interviews to fill 30-ish out-of-state spots. Surprisingly, no one complained about the weather despite being from Minnesota, Florida, Washington, or elsewhere. They admit that its pretty hot for 2-3 months, but you're inside all the time anyways.

The first interview with a faculty could've gone a little better. She kinda grilled me about some poor grades on my record and she wasn't terribly cordial either. Very straight-up. Only real question she asked me was "How do you see yourself fitting in at UNLV?"
-"You mean with the students?"
She raised her eyebrows and looked at me to answer the question. I answered as best as I could on the spot. Weird question. The 2nd interview was with a student who had also eaten lunch with us and given us a tour so I'd already been talking to him for an hour. We just sat on a bench outside and talked for another 20 minutes. He only had access to my personal statement and we talked about it for a few minutes. Good guy, I think that part went well, at least. I don't know about the first one. If they accept me, I don't think I'd mind going there, I'd probably enjoy it.

Tomorrow it's off to Philly.

Ed is Dead

Got pretty nostalgic about BYU last night. All alone, I came to my office on campus after the Robbins left and used the internet (since we don't have any at home yet). Then I walked around campus for a while. A couple was taking engagement pictures at the waterfall near the belltower, and a small family taking family pictures. Deseret Towers (freshman dorms) are all fenced off and empty. The Morris Center is empty and dark. Two of the towers are already gone, and it looks like the rest will go soon. Helaman Halls is all renovated and new, and they're building a new center right next to the Cannon Center. I wandered around, and wondered if people still do Tunnel Singing near the Marriott Center. Found out that there was a CES Fireside with Elder Oaks, so I sat alone in the Marriott center for 20 minutes until it started. Came back to work to check a few more things online and headed home.

It was kind of a strange feeling. Like I'm already saying goodbye to BYU because I'll most likely be leaving this year. I am made to stop and wonder how my life would be different because I had the opportunity/blessing to come here and have the motivation to come and work hard to be here. I know the Lord has amplified my efforts into not just temporal education and growth but a strong character and spiritual education and growth. My time here is irreplaceable. I am different for being here and will always be different for coming here.

This is just a public thanks to God for such a great school.

Tony's Theme

I'm going to be a lone man in the garden of eden, I mean a lone man in the new apartment for a few days. Emily has taken off with her parents for California. They'll be staying in Camarillo until later this week when Emily and her parents will fly to Pheonix for the scholarship dinner to be honored by Anasazi. Then they'll fly back and hang out in CA for a little longer.
Me, I'm driving to Vegas Wednesday night, interview at UNLV Thursday and drive back Thursday night. Saturday I leave for Philadelphia, interview at Temple on Tuesday and fly to LAX Tuesday night. Interview at USC Wednesday morning and then meet up with Emily, Grace, and the Robbins, when Em, G, and I will fly back to Salt Lake together Wednesday night (I probably won't make it up to Camarillo for that trip, I'll probably find a BYU student at USC to stay with). Then the Saturday after that I'll fly to LAX again, stay in Camarillo on Sunday, take the train and bus over to Loma Linda on Monday morning and interview there that afternoon and fly home from the Ontario airport. After that, got a week and a half to play catch-up at home and school, then fly to San Francisco for an interview at University of the Pacific. WOOF.

Pray for me and our family these next couple weeks. We'll need help getting through it, or, I'll need help getting through it. This is the rush because dental schools can send out acceptances as early as December 1st, so they go through a round of interviews to send out as many as they can by that date. I've worked hard in my organic chemistry lab to get ahead and am doing just fine in there, I'll have plenty of time on planes and stuff to finish all the write-ups. Physics is going to be rough making up homework without the TA lab around, but hopefully I'll be alright. Psychology is ok. Biochemistry will take some reading to keep up with, and for weight training I'll just have to do situps and pushups while I'm gone (I need to work on those anyways for the grade, 65 situps, 60 pushups, non stop by the end of the semester).

I will miss singing to Grace while she's gone. Emily and I take turns putting her to bed, and we usually sing a couple songs when we put her down. Usually they're primary songs and nursery songs. I enjoy the singing and Grace really likes it too. If you see my family this week, give them loves for me.

Motorway to Roswell

If this says anything about BYU (besides some of it just being a little funny) I think it's pretty good. BYU has its own police force, independent of Provo's Police. Each week, in the paper, they have the Police Beat. Here's last week's as posted on BYU's Newsnet website. I doubt it's every call the police get, but some of the notable calls. Sometimes, the calls are just funny. Hopefully the BYU police aren't too busy with craziness.

Tip of the week: If you observe something suspicious, report it. Don't talk yourself out of it or think someone else will report it. Although most suspicious reports turn out to be nothing, sometimes it is one report that is the pivotal point in being able to identify a criminal. Also, many times several reports combined will give the necessary information. Force yourself to take note of suspicious happenings. The more information you can give the police, the easier it will be for them to solve the crime.

Communications

Oct. 17: A female student living in Wyview Park received a phone call from a suspicious man. The suspect claimed to be a psychology student conducting a project, and attempted to put her in a hypnotic trance. She gave him a false name when he asked for her name. When she finally told him she had had enough, he immediately hung up.

Criminal mischief

Oct. 19: A BYU employee reported that someone had slashed his tire in a parking lot near the Fletcher Building. He was parked in a handicapped stall and had a handicapped placard in his window. The tire was damaged to the point that it cannot be fixed. There are no suspects at this time.

Oct. 22: A trail of drizzled paint was reported near Tingey Hall in Heritage, drizzled over a distance of approximately 100 yards through the parking lot and on the sidewalk.

Harassment

Oct. 18: A female employee in the Wilkinson Center post office reported a suspicious male coming into the post office quite frequently. He engages her in conversation for long periods of time and disrupts her work, even though she tries to avoid him. She described him as 5'11", 250 pounds, with long hair and a full beard.

Information report

Oct 17: A 21-year-old male student was arrested from his off-campus apartment. He was booked on charges of enticing a minor and dealing harmful material to a minor. He was also served a letter banning him from campus. He is now a former student.

Public peace

Oct. 17: The police got a call reporting that protesters in the JFSB Quad were hanging posters on the walls. This is against policy, so the police spoke to the individuals. They complied and took the posters down. This issue was then handed over to the dean of student life.

Stalking

Oct. 16: A 32-year-old male was accused of stalking individuals on campus. This individual has issued several verbal threats against a BYU employee. He has been on campus since he was banned from campus for his activities. As a result, he was arrested. In addition, he had other charges filed on him by the Orem Police Department. He was served a permanent ban letter from BYU campus. This is an ongoing investigation.

Suspicious circumstances

Oct. 16: A suspicious bag was reported at an elevator in the JFSB. It was gone when the officer arrived.

Oct. 18: A suspicious man was reported meandering through Wyview Park. When police arrived, they discovered he was a resident. The 18-year-old student was having a hard time sleeping so he went outside to meditate. The officer talked to him and referred him to the counseling center.

Oct. 18: Three individuals were reported wearing black hoods and scaring females near Chipman Hall in Helaman Halls. They were gone when officers arrived.

Theft

Oct. 9-10: A digital camera was reported stolen from the room of a female student living in Wymount Terrace. The victim claimed that her doors were locked. The Olympus camera is valued at $250.

Oct. 15-16: An unlocked bicycle was taken from a bike rack near Gates Hall in Heritage Halls. The green and silver Next Avalon is valued at $70.

Oct. 19: A projector was taken from room 133 of the TMCB. It is valued at $1200. There are no suspects.