Frog...RIP

Yesterday was another tiring day. I was down with bronchial constriction since Thursday and out of compulsion, had to attend college on Friday and Monday. On Monday, we had our 15-marks internal assessment examination in a run-up to the University examinations scheduled to begin from November 21, 2006. The subject was Pharmacology Laboratory-II. In this lab, we usually get to murder Frogs and conduct experiments on them. For the examination, our teacher decided to conduct a "new" experiment instead of testing our knowledge in the older ones! We had to determine the concentration of a drug solution by a "suitable" method using the rectus abdominis muscle preparation of Frog. The drug was Pancuronium.
Pancuronium is a potent AcetylCholine Antagonist. AcetylCholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter. ACh induces contraction of Skeletal muscle (the muscle used to the test is a skeletal muscle). When Pancuronium is administered, the force of contraction is reduced. This can be analysed. By analysing the response of known concentrations of Pancuronium, and comparing them with the response produced by the test sample, once can determine the concentration of the Test Sample. This is the experiment. The teacher finished explaining this in 5 minutes. We started the experiment at around 12:30. The Lab assistant dished out pithed frogs. I am bad at cutting out the tissue, and my friend did the job for me. The core procedure started only at 1300. By the time, I finished my experiment, it was 14:30. By the time the results of the experiment was ready, the clocked ticked past 15:30. The teacher hurried, and asked everyone of wind up and she made her way out of the lab. I made my way to the bus stop and took a bus to Thane.


Now some Railfanning! The day was normal in the morning. There seems to be a speed restriction between Mankhurd and Govandi now. Trains on the UP line regularly crawl at 15kmph between both the stations. I saw the Punjab mail rushing past when I reached Kurla. Our train crossed the Chalukya right outside Kurla. The loco was a Turquoise liveried WDG3A from Pune. I spotted the Vidarbha right outside Thane. This rake had 20 coaches as against its normal length of 18 coaches! In the evening, I narrowly missed the 16:37 CST fast from Thane. The train scheduled for 16:41 was reportedly delayed by 10-15 minutes. The train scheduled for 16:45 pulled in at about 16:50. The rake was a 9-Car AC/DC one. This train stops at Bhandup and Ghatkopar between Thane and Kurla. The EMU expressed her abilities between Thane and Bhandup very well. BTW, I spotted the Lucknow express at Thane while waiting for the 16:45 Fast. The pragati was crossed near Nahur, and the Nandigram near Ghatkopar.

I was too tired when I reached Home. Still have got some signs of breathing trouble and decided to take a days off today as well!

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