Blogs

This week I tried to make single-stranded targets by running double-stranded PCR and then using a digestive enzyme (endonuclease) to end up with a single-stranded product.  However, the initial PCR reaction did not work, possibly due to degraded template. 
The purpose for single-stranded targets is to get a comparision between ds and ss targets.  ds targets are economically more viable because they take less time to produce.  ss targets are the standard, and so if we can show that ds data matches or is close to ss data, then we have optimized DNA assays.

This week I continued expanding features for both the deployment and daily report page. I made my code more efficient by implementing three different ways to display and retrieve data for my deployment page, and I also added a feature so that when you scroll back to past dates on the daily report page, it will show past statuses of instruments (this was the most challenging part of my week, because I had to try many times to get the code right).

as of 1800, July 29th.  The bow thruster is 'fixed' but nobody can say for sure quite how.  Boards were switched around and around and around and around and voila!  QED.  Cannot be too smug about this situation, however, as the gremlin is still onboard and sure to jump out if given the chance.

This week I mainly focused on building my survey. I researched other surveys that have been administered for issues like shellfish contamination. It was difficult to find information at first, but I eventually found useful information that helped give me ideas. In my survey I asked questions such as; which months do you harvest shellfish the most, how do you cook your shellfish, are you aware of the prohibited harvesting areas, are you aware of the summer precautions, etc. I think this is a very good start.

This week I met with Bill (my mentor) and received very helpful feedback. I narrowed down ideas about my survey, and discussed different possibilities. I am very excited about administering a survey to the public, and seeing if I can narrow down some possibilities for contamination. We also discussed different graphs that we have received from Quinault. Some of the terminology was new to me, so Bill informed me on quite a few new things. I also really enjoyed our trip to OHSU. I have been to OHSU quite a few times, but I have never ridden the tram so that was a lot of fun.

turned upside down.

I started testing my "poor man's induced polarization box"
I prepared it by getting a small plastic container and covering the top with cardboard box and a layer of styrofoam. Then, four stainless steel rods were taped around the sides and at the tip, only leaving ~1.5cm exposed to the outer environment. Then, those steel rods were inserted, not touching the bottom of the box but deep enough to stay submerged when water/solution is introduced. Then those rods were connected to the voltage source and voltmeter to take IP measurements.

Trial 1