tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post689645033841460722..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: An hour, partings, and the village idiotDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-39982101578742125602011-10-04T07:33:05.147+11:002011-10-04T07:33:05.147+11:00Oh, I meant to say that I asked my daughters about...Oh, I meant to say that I asked my daughters about the train's aberrant behaviour. They told me that at the departure time, there was no announcement at the station that the train was about to leave, no STAND CLEAR, no long blast on the horn, just the doors suddenly closing and speedy departure. Nor, as I said was there the usual warning at the road crossing. <br /><br />The crew must have been having a Day of Silence, like Damodar sometimes did. But that's another story.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-61795955054844323432011-10-04T00:40:34.265+11:002011-10-04T00:40:34.265+11:00Thanks, Joan, on all counts. As to partings, we ac...Thanks, Joan, on all counts. As to partings, we accept what can't be changed, and move on. I don't get hung up on such things but it's good to write about immediate reactions to such events. It's as much a self-indulgence to do so as anything else, but Spartan behaviour also has its limits. <br /><br />I thought you interesting comments warranted a separate piece. Here it is:<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/6yxrf9d<br /><br />Time for bed for me!<br />Tuesday, 4 October 2011 12:40 AM.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-52218527352777656252011-10-03T10:44:52.766+11:002011-10-03T10:44:52.766+11:00You missed the train, and that's sad -- so poi...You missed the train, and that's sad -- so poignantly put, Denis. It must be gut wrenching for everyone when your daughters depart. Good-byes are not my strength, either, and possible final good-byes are too painful to even contemplate, let alone have to face.<br /><br />But my mind is on other things at the moment, with regard to you and anyone else reading your blog who finds him/herself in the same unfortunate situation.<br /><br />Word for word from the NewScientist, Sept 17 p 19<br /><br />"Gut drug halts cancer seizures:<br /><br />A drug for Crohn's disease is proving adept at blocking seizures caused by brain tumours.<br /><br />Many people with brain cancers called gliomas experience epileptic-like seizures. Fits occur because the transport machinery that gliomas use to move an essential amino acid into the tumour also secretes glutamate, which causes surrounding neurons to fire uncontrollably.<br /><br />Harald Sontheimer's team at the University of Alabama in Birmingham injected human glioma cells into 14 mice. Eight were given sulphasalazine, a drug which blocks the transport machinery; the rest a control.<br /><br />Sulphasalazine halved the number of fits (Nature Medicine, DOI: 10.1038/nm.2453). Since sulphasalazine is approved for treating Crohn's disease, and well tolerated by patients, it could be used to treat glioma immediately, says Sontheimer."<br /><br /><br />You have to be sorry for the mice, but perhaps some good will come out of their unwilling sacrifice. I hope this unpronouceable drug is readily available. No harm giving it a try.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.com