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horsellian

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Posts posted by horsellian

  1. 22 hours ago, wathe said:

    This is the role of government funded science:  doing important scientific work that has no commercial benefit.  Also driving important social change that has no commercial benefit, for the benefit of all citizens.

    Unfortunately, this would only work if the required studies were a one-time deal.  Regulatory requirements mean stability must be started on fresh batches of each product each year.  It would therefore be uneconomic for the government to fund 10+year studies for every formulation of every drug from every manufacturer so that expiry dates could be longer. (Think how many different studies would be required every year just for paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen.)

    I agree that drug waste is a major issue, but it can be tackled more effectively by not over-prescribing than by trying to extend shelf-lives, particularly for cheaper generic drugs which are not in short supply.  For consumers of OTC drugs it's not hard to only buy what you need, and not stockpile excessive quantities at home.

  2. On 2/23/2024 at 2:35 AM, Corraleno said:

    The "expiration dates" on most medications are not based on any actual data — most manufacturers just slap on an expiration date of 1-2 yrs from manufacture to cover their butts, they're not doing studies to see how long the medication actually lasts.

    This isn't true as this kind of testing is part of what I do for a living! But expiry dates are often much shorter than effectiveness because most studies run only 3 years, and expiry dates are calculated from date of manufacture. It's not in any drug company's financial interest to run a 10 year stability study.  And no-one would fund one on generic medicines - again, no commercial benefit.

    I also know from stability testing them that some vitamin tablets have very short shelf lives. Off the top of my head, vitamin C and folic acid are two that will be well below dosage after the expiry date, particularly if you live in a hot humid climate.

  3. 20 hours ago, regentrude said:

    I went to college in Germany. 

    My transcript has three grades, based on three comprehensive oral examinations over 5 semesters of math, 8 semesters of theoretical, and 8 semesters of experimental physics.

    For each class, we had one exam and one comprehensive final. No other grades. ( and again, these didn't even make the final transcript)

    My entire degree was determined on the basis of 8 3-hour exams (there were 9 exams in total, but you got to drop one). They were sat across a 5 day period, 2 exams each day, though I think there was a weekend in the middle?

    It was fair though, because it was the same for everyone. (Though people did make jokes about the only worse exam schedule being for the Chinese Civil Service.)

  4. I have 6 wisdom teeth. Two top, one bottom each side. No major issues and I'm now in my 40s, so probably all fine, even though 4 are impacted.

    My sister had hers out (one at a time!) in her 30s with no major issues. I think one got slightly infected after, but antibiotics cleared it up.

    • Like 1
  5. 8 hours ago, ieta_cassiopeia said:

    Are adults going back to college-level study eligible for this thread? If so, I got my course pack from Open University on Friday and I'm very excited. It even came with a fancy calculator!

    Super exciting!  I always used to love receiving my parcels from the Open University each year.

    I hope you enjoy your course(s) - it's been a while, but I always found the quality of the learning materials was top-notch.

    • Like 1
  6. Yes, that is correct. I don't think joint honours is the same as a double major though - they are not twice the work of a single honours degree, you just take selected bits from both subjects. (I'm not that familiar with the US system though, so not clear what double major there entails).

    Also, some Oxford courses do not have much by way of choice within the course. 

    I know it has changed a bit since I was there almost 20 years ago, but then there were 9 papers in Chemistry finals (then taken at the end of 3rd year) and you had to sit 8 of them! It must be different now though, as there are exams in 2nd year too.

    It is quite subject specific though, as my sister read French and Spanish, and I know she had a fair bit more paper choice.

    • Thanks 1
  7. I'm basically in a contract lab, so non-lab roles include collaboration with clients on setting up, and running the studies, data checking, ensuring results will meet FDA requirements (or whatever jurisdiction is relevant), reporting data to clients. There are also other things like health and safety - we have synthetic chemistry labs too, and the H&S teams need good knowledge of the chemistries being undertaken.

    • Like 1
  8. I'm an analytical chemist for a pharmaceutical company, which involves both chemistry and maths (mainly statistics). I do a lab based role, but my company also has desk based roles within my department.  There are lots of things you can do with chemistry and maths other than teach them.

    • Like 6
  9. After 16 years, we still have a quite a lot of wedding presents in use (we got 2 Scrabble sets IIRC!) but the most surprising one has to be the bread maker, which as made at least one loaf a week since my uncle and aunt bought it for us. It's showing a few signs of wear, but really still going strong.

    We also have a few hand-me-down towels from my parents that were *their* wedding presents 47 years ago! They're in our not-best-but-not-rags-yet pile of towels.

    • Like 2
  10. The interesting thing is that Facebook know it's an offensive word, and potentially flags it up to users as being offensive.

    I just came across this article:

    Facebook apologises for flagging Plymouth Hoe as offensive term

    (Sorry for the huge font!)

    Quotation from the article:

    One Facebook user claimed they had their comment removed on several occasions and added: “Now I am writing Oe.”

    Another said: “Someone asked me where I swam in Plymouth and I replied “Plymouth H O E. I got told off for bad language and could not comment for two days.”

    A third added that when she mentioned the Hoe, she received a message: “Are you sure you want to post this, it may be deemed offensive to some?”

    • Haha 2
  11. 1 hour ago, SKL said:

    Again, "he didn't really win" was the theme for sure after 2016.  And while HRC did concede, she took it back and fought to overturn it via legal process for some time.  And even after the inauguration, HRC continued to make speeches in the US and abroad about how she really won or should have won.

    She really did win the popular vote, just not the electoral college.

    • Like 5
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