Information regarding recent Swine Flu

The World Health Organization announced Saturday that the outbreak in Mexico and the
United States constituted a "public health emergency of international concern."

The following are questions and answers about swine flu:

What is swine flu?

Swine flue (Influenza) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type an influenza
viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Most commonly, human cases of swine flu happen in people who are around pigs but it's possible for swine flu viruses to spread from person to person also.
The new strain found in Mexico and the U.S. is a mixture of swine, human and avian flu viruses.

Is this new swine flu virus contagious?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that this
virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human. However, at this time, it is not known how easily the virus spreads between people.

What are the signs and symptoms of swine flu in people?

The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu,
including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some
people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. In the past, severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported in swine flu patients. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

How serious is swine flu infection?

Like seasonal flu, swine flu in humans can vary in severity from mild to severe. From
2005 until January 2009, 12 human cases of swine flu were detected in the U.S. with no deaths occurring. However, swine flu infection can be serious. In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman in Wisconsin was hospitalized for
pneumonia after being infected with swine flu and died 8 days later.

How do people catch swine flu?

Spread of swine flu can occur in two ways: through contact with infected pigs or
environments contaminated with swine flu viruses; through contact with a person with
swine flu. Human-to-human spread of swine flu has been documented also and is thought
to occur in the same way as seasonal flu. Influenza is thought to spread mainly
person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

Are there medicines to treat swine flu?

Health authorities in some countries recommend the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or
zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with these swine
influenza viruses. These antiviral drugs can keep flu viruses from reproducing in one's body and may also prevent serious flu complications.

How long can an infected person spread swine flu to others?

People with swine influenza virus infection should be considered potentially contagious as long as they are symptomatic and possible for up to seven days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.

Are there any precautionary measures against swine flu?

There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs causing respiratory illnesses like influenza, such as hand-washing with alcohol-based hand cleaners especially after coughing or sneezing and avoiding close contact with sick people.
If one gets sick with influenza, the patient is better to stay home from work or school and limit contact with others. Patients are also asked to avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth through which germs spread.

What should one do if getting sick?

Patients are recommended to seek emergency medical care if experiencing any of the
following warning signs:
In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include: fast
breathing or trouble breathing, bluish skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not waking up or not interacting, being so irritable that the child does not want to beheld, flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough, fever with a rash.
In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include: difficult breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, severe or persistent vomiting.

Can people get swine influenza from eating or preparing pork?

No. Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. People cannot get swine influenza
from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.

correction... penicillin..

the amide moiety on carbon 6 should be beta not alpha.... checked with Dr Arjun.. please reconfirm with melissa..

david bears no responsibility if anything goes wrong.. haha.... take the info here at your own risk.. :P

Getting bored with the notes? Let's join the IMU Arm Wrestling Competition‏

Found this out from P109's blog.

Please visit the link below for further information.
http://mpharm09.blogspot.com/2009/04/imu-arm-wrestling-competition.html

correction.. Med Chem SAR lecture..

the Hammett constant should be Kx-KH.. Not KH-Kx as in the lecture..

library hours

i get it from somebody's blog...

Library Hours

Due to the Medical batches examinations recently, the Library has agreed to extend their opening hours on Saturdays until 8pm for the following dates:

April: 18th and 25th.
May: 16th and 23rd.
June: 13th, 20th and 27th.

Dates Library hours will not be extended:
2 May (Labour Day weekend)
9 May (Vesak Day)
6 June (No exams within two weeks)

Library hours will be extended from current 5pm to 8pm for all weeks starting from June.


add oil everyone!!!

Short film 'The Cow'

There are some things that my sister does that makes me look up to her.
She hardly gives up on the thing she does..
One time, she made bookmarks and sold it to her classmates, made something like RM8 for something that is worth 30-40 cents. She even hired a sales representative cos there was a competitor in school HAHAH...She stayed up making these bookmarks with origami dogs, cats, pencils...Though in the end, she closed the business cos there was too much demand and very little production. Basically it stole her computer, youtube-time =)

And recently, I thought she showed a great deal of perseverance, something I lack of, especially during this study break. She made a short film, a cow film...from drawings made on Paint. She cut, she pasted, she cut & pasted to make a series of pictures and putting it together using Window Media Player. She took almost a whole day making it. We know paint is no Photoshop editor so do understand the tedious work that she went through. Even though the film is not much and lack storyline, I admire her creavity and her imagination. Enjoy~



P/S: My sister is 11 this year =) and I was bribed to put this up LOL *pearl tea!!!*

Oh by the way, I'm in Draco house team..who's with me??

-Nat

Official House Meeting (OHM)

Dear batchmates,

As most of you have already know, the house system will be introduced for the very first time in this year's IMU CUP. Traditionally, students in IMU are divided into 6 or 7 teams according to their batches. Medical batches will join with Nursing or Bmed seniors while 3 Pharmacy batches will join together to form a team. The traditonal method of grouping the students had been challenged by several circumstances in the previous IMU CUPs. For example:

1. There is no proper team allocation for Bmed seniors, retainees or those who switched programme.

2. Nursing is a 4 years programme while Medicine is a 2.5 years programme. After every 2.5 years, Nursing students have to accommodate to a new batch of Medical students. These students did not feel a sense of belonging to their teams.

3. Some teams only have to coordinate between 2/3 batches (like us) while others have to coordinate between 8 batches. There was no level field.

As IMU is expanding our courses, the division of teams based on batches will face even greater problems. We can no longer afford to group all Health Sciences programmes together as the students intake for these students will expand in years to come. A proper and permanent solution need to be in place to ensure the feasibility of IMU CUP in the future.

Hence, there'll be an OHM for every house to elect their committee members, captains for each sport as well as batch reps. OHM for each house will be held this thursday (23rd of april) from 7.30pm-10.30pm. Please refer to the boards in the atrium to identify your house captain and find out the location of your house's OHM.

I know we are on our study break and EOS is less than 2 weeks away but i strongly encourage all of you to make time to attend your OHM (exception for those who balik kampung for the study break). The reason is because the House System is here to stay and the change is not going to be easy. I believe we all as pioneers of it have a resposibility to make it a success so that the students who come in in the future will enjoy IMU CUP as much as we did regardless of the change in system. We are the ones who will make the difference and set the standards. I know some of you might be thinking that you have nothing to contribute in terms of sports and hence, IMU CUP has nothing to do with you but i want you to know that your presence matters and you will have many other ways to contribute if only you are willing.

If you all do attend your OHM, may i encourage you all to actively participate in all the discussions and brain storming (if there are) with all the other students from other batches. Do not be intimidated by anyone by any means. Please do voice out and speak your mind. The same goes for the future meetings and meet-ups that you all might have. Share your ideas. Share your creativity. Create solutions to problems that will help your house to be successful. Remember that you are starting a tradition for your house that will be followed for the years to come. How meaningful this year's IMU Cup to us individually and as a group will depend on how much we get ourselves involved with people around us and also, how much effort we put into it to make it a success.

Someone once told me this, ''You are important if you think that you are important, because when u think of yourself as imporant, you'll do things/ speak of things that are important and in the process, become important. But if you think that you are not important, you'll never be important.'' Just something random that came to mind. :D

Last but not least, happy studying to all of you and remember to take good care of your health. Get enough sleep, eat well and drink lots of water. Don't fall sick. Cheers to all of you and God bless. Muacksss... Good nite B107, my love. =)

motivation

i found these quotes which inspire me, hope all of you receive deep inspiration from them too. =)

Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead ... You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.

~Kathleen Norris

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. The brave do not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. You travel the road between who you think you are and who you can be. The key is to allow yourself to make the journey.

~Philippe Renaldi (Princess Diaries)

Clear my doubts..

Since EOS is around the corner, lets turn this blog into a temporary forum.. As suggested by KP.. :) Clear my doubts.. Very frustrated with contradicting statements from different lecturers...

Subject : GI

1. Large intestine secretes or absorbs potassium iron?
In 'large intestine' lecture it secretes but in 'GI absorption and malabsorption' lecture it
absorbs..

2. Chymotrypsin is an endopeptidase or exopeptidase?
In ''Digestive processes' lecture it is exopeptidase but in 'The pancreas' lecture it is
endopeptidase...
and how about elastases??

For Keivan ADR2 missed slide

BPFK Definition: A response to a product which is noxious and unintended, and which occurs at doses normally used in man for the prophylaxis, diagnosis or therapy of a disease or for the modification of physiological function.

Any significant hazards to patients, such as lack of efficacy with contraceptives, vaccines and products used in life-threatening diseases may also be included as an adverse reaction.

I am assigned by someone to blog this..
happy studying..

mat rempits in bukit jalil

I received this email from Teck Long today. Anyway, be it in Bukit Jalil, or anywhere else, please be careful of these mat rempits and be aware of your surroundings when you're outside, especially late at night or early in the morning!

"Dear friends,


On Friday night, 25th March 2009, I was robbed and slashed by a group of Mat Rempit, more than 15 of them and I was admitted to the hospital. It happened at about 2am at the road side of Arena Green condo in Bukit Jalil when I was entering my car after visiting a problematic student who was staying there.

I was seated at the driver seat in my own car and about to close my car door when a group of Mat Rempit on motorbikes, pull over with parang. Despite agreeing to give the robber my wallet which was at the back pocket of my trousers, the robber still slashed me on my hand and leg, just because I was too slow in taking out my wallet. Blood stain was all over the seats and my pants was soaked with blood. I was rushed to the hospital with slash wounds on my hand and leg and received 11 stitches on my knee cap which now I am temporary immobilize.

My colleague, 61 year old lady who was walking towards my car was pinned down to the ground and her gold chain was snatched and another colleague of mine, 31 year old who parked his car in front of my car, managed to run on foot to the guard house of the condo and he was chased by the Mat Rempit group. Another colleague of mine who parked her car behind my car managed to lock her car in time. The Mat Rempit group was also trying to open her car.

Luckily, there was an off duty plainclothes policeman riding a motor on his way home, happened to pass by while the robbery in progress and he rammed his motor onto them. They want to charge him with parang as well but the Mat Rempit group sped off when he was about to pull out his pistol.

It was a very daring robbery as there was a police road block on that night on the same road opposite direction about 100 meter away and the Mat Rempit group sped off in the presence of the police roadblock. The group of Mat Rempit outnumbered the police on the roadblock. Those police manning the roadblock only arrived at the crime scene after the Mat Rempit group has sped off.

The Mat Rempits are very cruel and inhuman even when I have agreed to give them all they want, they still chopped me with parang. I was told that they were probably high on syabu drugs when they committed the robbery.

Please inform your family members and friends to be careful especially when going out or coming home late at night. Police said that Mat Rempits are active past midnight and they always ride in a group.

Thank God I am still alive but traumatized by the whole incident. Now, I am resting at home, can't move around. It takes time to recover.

Thank you.

Chan Kok Keun

Manager - Testing, UTG

Scope International(M) Sdn.Bhd"

Mathemathics of B107

Well, this is going to be a very random one.


So, it was during the previous pharmaceutical experiment and someone actually come out with this idea while waiting for their turn.

and they actually factorize some of the names in out class.

Have a look at it.




Isn't that fun?

You all can actually come out with more combinations.

:D

Buddhist Society Semester Gathering

Dear all,

IMU's Buddhist Society will be holding a semester gathering, it's something like a welcoming party for anyone who wishes to attend; members (existing and new), non-members, anyone who wishes to become a member. :)

Details:

Date
8 April 2009, Wednesday

Time
6.30pm

Location
SR3

There will be free food provided, and exciting games as well!

So, drop by, and bring your friends along. :)

Month of April is Nutrition Month of Malaysia

This is from my sis's email to me. I tot some of u all might be interested.


This event is held only once a year...by the 3 leading professional bodies in Nutritional Sciences namely Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) , Malaysian Dietitians' Association (MDA) and Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity (MASO). The 2009 NMM initiative is supported by the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MHPB).

If you are free this weekend (Apr 4 & 5), please drop by at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre .

A lot of free goodies from our Sponsors (Nestle, Gardenia, Tiger Biscuits, Quakes (oat drink), Tropicana (orange juice), Vitagen, Wyeth and Yakult)!

You can get FREE Nutrition Screening and expert advice from qualified Nutritionists and Dietitians. These include free screenings for Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure , blood cholesterol , blood glucose and body fat ;

NMM ’09 focuses on child nutrition under the theme “Healthy Children, Healthier Nation”, because the formative years of 1-6 are the most important in any child’s life. So, if any u have younger siblings in this category, do bring ur siblings along (if u think u can handle them =p).There'll also be fun games for whole family and lots of prizes to be won. (kindergarten talent competition; contests; games; quizzes; and demonstrations)

p/s: more details can be obtained from www.nutriweb.org.my

So, if any of u are planning to go to MV this weekend , do drop by at the exhibition centre.