Praha 2014

Gdańsk, Poland

Pictoria #4

Guilt

I had a sudden rush of guilty - as if I have been bitten by a scorpion. (The poison) It ran all over my body, traveled from every nook and cranny of my veins, and ended at a small spot of my heart. I put my right hand on my left chest, and stacked my left hand on top of it. I tried to fondle them in the most strangest hymn, hoping that; in the next seconds, I could possibly eavesdrop clearly what it might say.

I missed my old man.

artsy smartsy

English

English is not my first language. I speak Malay, read Arabic and survive with minimal Danish in this country. Since everybody speaks English at my work place, I think I should be able to shift my language priority. Therefore, I plan to put English as my top priority.

Previously, English was not even my second language. I wrote bad English and unable to communicate in it eloquently. This blog is an output of my weakness. Can we consider this as a learning curve?

I realized that I have developed this kind of habit; where I spent little time to re-read the stuffs that I published here, and start to rectify my English deficiency.

English is not my first language. And I am on my way to improve it.

Thank you for reading this piece.

3-D printer.

My first experience with 3-D printer was quite funny actually. I thought Shonda Rhimes was just trying so hard to create a comeback for Dr Burke by depicting him as a successful doctor (cum scientist) who  ran a 3-D printer lab research in Swiss. I just can’t process the idea of constructing an organ by putting up together their monomers. Printing a heart? Miraculously ridiculous. Insane. Period. However, late 2013, I was shocked to found that the 3-D printer was real, and claimed by The Scientist magazine as one of the greatest inventions in the year.

Last week, I attended a seminar on "How to write a great paper?" at my university. Eventually, I stumbled upon this magical machine. It was even more magical when these machines can actually be used for for public - FOR FREE.

Maybe I should try it someday.

Danish hospitality :)

Thanks to Mr Big Boss for cooking us dinner. The congee was really delicious, and it has what-it-takes to satisfy my Asian taste bud. Everyone is new to the group, and each of us runs various projects. I personally think that this is the best platform for us to get to know each other better; probably the coolest ice breaking session eva; simple but yet each of us can engage to each other informally. Earlier that evening, we were asked to prepare small presentation covering personal life, research and academic background. 

Unlike Oxbridge, we do not have any matriculation session for the newbies at KU. Therefore, small event like this is consider meaningful to begin my PhD journey. My PhD's clock is ticking, and I need to speed up my paces.

Go go Power Rangers, eh?

Autumn in Copenhagen 2014: Sophieholm

Terbaik dari langit.

Meanwhile in Copenhagen

Copenhagen Microbiology Center Symposium 2014

Last Friday, I had a golden opportunity to attend a microbiology symposium that held at Festsalen KU in Copenhagen. This program was a success with three plenum lectures by highly esteemed researchers revealing to us their latest research in developing fields of Microbiology. I would say that I enjoyed the first lecture the most as it was discussing my current research that I am doing now. Plus, I also had a chance to talk to Prof George Weinstock. Weinstock is a humble person, and always like to share his knowledge and experiences. 

I enjoyed the event. They provided good food too!

No cake but happy.

People were gathered at lobby. Smiling to each other in patience.  A minute later, Finn showed up to the crowd with bags of cheese and breads. People were praised  and wished him "Happy birthday!".

I sat at one of the table's corner. Waiting for birthday's cake. But it never had shown up. People were eating and talked about cheese and bread. Rich with facts, arts and science of the cheese. Sometime they laughed. Poked each other, and laugh again.

The air was filled with the smell of rotten sock. They continued eating, laughing and drinking. This country is wierd. They did not celebrate birthday with cake.

A sweet lost to Neils Bohr Institute

A short trip to Odense.

First of all, please forgive my bad English.

I went to Odense for sample collection. So it is part of my research, and it is free. For your info, I am conducting research related to gut microbiota, in short, I work with shit, and I am happy.

Odense is a small city, as compared to Copenhagen. It is located 170km away from my city, and we took regional train to get there. The tix was rather expensive, but who’s care, the trip was covered by my SV, and I did it for the sake of science. I am happy, I tell you.

Denial? Nope. I am not. Grrr….I am happy.

While waiting for my train to get back to Copenhagen, my friend suggested to go to Hans Christian Andersen’s house. I have no idea who is Hans Christian Andersen, but according to my friend, he is/was very popular.  He keep on saying that Hans Christian Andersen was a prolific author.

When we arrived to the house, I was closed for visitor. I was disappointed, but luckily we got a clean and beautiful place to perform solat jamak.

By the way, according to Mr Google, I found that he was a prolific author for fairy-tale books, and I used to read his works like The Little Mermaid and few others when I was small. I also found that he was the author for The Snow Queen. Since Azkiya is a big fan of The Snow Queen (also known as Frozen), I plan to make another trip to Odense with my family.

Yups, we always had reasons to travel. Kehkehkeh. 

Your gut feeling : A brief introduction to gut microbiota of the elders by Fauzan Ahmad.

The ageing process is multifactorial and complex, that bring impact on the human body entirely [1]. The process seriously affects the human gut microbiota in particular, because it is accompanied by changes in the physiology of the gastrointestinal tract and associated immune system [2-4] due to reducing physical-activity levels and daily food intake (especially protein) with respect to lifestyle changing [5, 6]. In the elderly, the diversity and composition of the microbiota has been linked with various health parameters - may also be a risk [4] or protective factor in relation to immunoallergic and metabolic disorders [7].

Even though the process of aging is irreducible, the present knowledge believed that the age-dependent muscle loss can be partially diminished with an increased intake of dietary protein [8-10], and is optimally counteracted when adequate protein intake is combined with resistance training [11]. Moreover, the changing composition of the human microbiota is associated with changes in human behaviours [12]. However, this raises several questions about the usefulness of the present knowledge, especially with regard to protein intake and exercise as strategies in defining the composition and diversity of gut microbiota among the elderly.

Progress has been acceler­ated by metagenomics, which combines high-throughput DNA sequencing [13] and computational methods [14] to define the com­position of complex microbial communities without needing to culture the constituents. Most studies of the human microbiota describe bacterial diversity, which typically dominates the cellular fraction of the microbiota; but other taxa, including Archaea, fungi, and other microbial eukaryotes, and viruses can be present [15]. The understanding of the impact of exercise and the nutritional value of foods in terms of relevance to our microbiota is essential in developing new ways to manipulate the beneficial properties of our microbiota by finding ways to integrate health-promoting properties into modern living should be the goal.

REFERENCES

1.            Weinert, B.T. and P.S. Timiras, Invited review: Theories of aging. J Appl Physiol (1985), 2003. 95(4): p. 1706-16.

2.            Rampelli, S., et al., Functional metagenomic profiling of intestinal microbiome in extreme ageing. Aging (Albany NY), 2013. 5(12): p. 902-12.

3.            Hold, G.L., The gut microbiota, dietary extremes and exercise. Gut, 2014.

4.            Claesson, M.J., et al., Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly. Nature, 2012. 488(7410): p. 178-184.

5.            Bartali, B., et al., Low Nutrient Intake Is an Essential Component of Frailty in Older Persons. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2006. 61(6): p. 589-593.

6.            Janssen, I., S.B. Heymsfield, and R. Ross, Low Relative Skeletal Muscle Mass (Sarcopenia) in Older Persons Is Associated with Functional Impairment and Physical Disability. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2002. 50(5): p. 889-896.

7.            Clarke, S.F., et al., Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity. Gut, 2014.

8.            Fujita, S. and E. Volpi, Amino Acids and Muscle Loss with Aging. The Journal of Nutrition, 2006. 136(1): p. 277S-280S.

9.            Morley, J.E., et al., Nutritional recommendations for the management of sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 2010. 11(6): p. 391-6.

10.          Paddon-Jones, D., et al., Role of dietary protein in the sarcopenia of aging. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008. 87(5): p. 1562S-1566S.

11.          Ferrando, A.A., et al., Resistance exercise maintains skeletal muscle protein synthesis during bed rest. J Appl Physiol (1985), 1997. 82(3): p. 807-10.

12.          Shanahan, F., The gut microbiota[mdash]a clinical perspective on lessons learned. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2012. 9(10): p. 609-614.

13.          Metzker, M.L., Sequencing technologies - the next generation. Nat Rev Genet, 2010. 11(1): p. 31-46.

14.          Caporaso, J.G., et al., QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data. Nat Methods, 2010. 7(5): p. 335-6.

15.          Goodrich, Julia K., et al., Conducting a Microbiome Study. Cell, 2014. 158(2): p. 250-262.

Pictoria #3: First day of autumn; my 30th birthday!

Did Darwin suffer from Bell's palsy too?

Tribute to ABAH

I still having a mixture of feelings due to the passing of my dad. I do not expect my last visit with my father a few weeks ago before I left for Copenhagen - is our last meeting.

He was very different. He got too close to me, too attach. I could not believe, my father had agreed to follow us wherever we went in Kedah. In fact, he had not even refused a cup of coffee that I offered to him.

I have known my father as a quiet and gentle man. In my life, had scolded me for once - when I was taking his money without his knowledge. Until now I'm still afraid to take an item without the owner's permission. It was a great life lesson, I think.

I still remember when I was a kid. I was trying to cheat while performing Asr prayers. I did not realize that my father was watching me. In the evening, my father called me. He asked me to accompany him for Maghrib prayer.

After we finished the prayers, he said, "This is how we pray."

I think he is having good time with my late mak, now. hehe

 Abah, I (we) always love you.

Pictoria #2 : Nyhavn

Pictoria: Copenhagen's sunny day.

How to keep my children busy during a long flight journey? KUL-CPH

The most frightening thing when we plan to travel with children is when dealing with their unpredictable emotion. Maybe they are happy to travel at the beginning of the trip, or maybe they change it in the middle of the trip. This situation is just like the weather in Denmark when approaching the end of summer. It can be very sunny in the early morning, with a splash of radiant sunshine. But ended with rain that kills the feeling. Sigh.

Personally, I found this is very subjective, it depends on the kids. Parents should understand the needs of the children themselves. The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Copenhagen is long and tiring. My wife did a lot of research through reading. She finally decided to keep them busy, just the way they used to do while at home.

In very extreme circumstances, we have read there are parents who give drugs to children to calm down. For me, this step is unnecessary and detrimental. Parents should take this opportunity to provide an opportunity to learn about traveling.

It's time for them to get to know the clouds from a closer range!

We prepared toys and their favorite foods. In any case, the key to preoccupy children during the long flight is to understand the whims of your children. If an adverse event occurs, I would like to advice you to stay calm.

So be patient.

Parents, good luck!

Departure

Finally the long-awaited moment will come on the next day. However, I am still not at peace as long as I land safely in Copenhagen. I can say that I had fullfiled almost 80% of the preparations. The remaining may be just to transfer money to an account in Denmark, buy soap Taharah, and also get an international adapter.

Last week, I had returned to my hometown in Yan. I am a bit dissapointed as abah could not make to accompany my departure. So I decided to pay him a visit, and spend quality time with him (and others). Abah advised me to adopt some prayers during travel. Abah also promised to come to Denmark after I managed to settle down.

Till summer of next year, abah?

Bell's palsy.

Last Saturday, my wife has detected a slight change occurred on my second child. There are changes in facial muscles, especially when she smiled, or in tears. It seemed she could not move the facial muscles on the right side. According to my wife, this was very strange because most of the reported cases only happened to adults due to stroke.

Through my reading, this problem occurs because there is interference on the seventh nerve in the facial area. I was in worried due to the fact that it may be due to stroke, viral infection, tumour growth. Without further delay, I went to see the doctor.

I was fortunate to have opportunity to meet with Dr Alex, a doctor who specializes in children's neurological specialization. Dr Alex was very good, and my daughter has been very cooperative too. I was pleased when Dr Alex had ruled out tumor, and stroke. His initial diagnosis was Bell's palsy, and my daughter was put on anti-viral medication for the next two weeks. In addition, he also suggested us to attend physiotherapy sessions for correcting facial muscles of my child.

Honestly, I was impressed with the dedication shown by Dr. Alex. He asked us to keep him updated on Aufa’s progress even we proceed medical treatment in Denmark.

On a bright side, I see this as a good opportunity to treat my child esczema that she suffered since childhood. The medicine that has been prescribed contains corticosteroid that may curb the disease. It just like killing two birds with a stone.

I learned something from this incident - never treat your kids as grown up adults.

On sado

I'd find that it is rather difficult to define sado, but Junad M. Nor has put it nicely (inside joke). Lol

Visited Panda at Zoo Negara Kuala Lumpur

Last week we visited the pandas at the Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur. Personally, I've seen a lot of changes made to the zoo. Therefore, every penny spent was worth it. Even though the entry fee was raised, I think all the money will be channeled for the welfare of the animals. If you are an adult, and not more than 60 years, the fee is RM50. Half price applies to children aged 3 to 12 years.

In any case, enjoy the pictures! 

Let me show you the way to the palace panda. Come on!

My wife and me, the Malayan bear :p

Azkiya featuring panda in the background.

The panda was sleeping. You have to wait until 230 pm, so that it will wake up for feeding time.

Aufa with panda's smile.

The panelists for World Panda's Welfare.