Thanks for hanging around and answering questions. I too was wondering how the shipping affected the sample while it was in transit because part of what I read indicated that the sample was frozen upon arrival potentially (my impression here) to prevent degradation of the things that you hope to quantify.

Recognizing that the sample is not frozen before shipping and is therefore not "fresh" - 1) how much degradation occurs and 2) how have you quantified or measured the effects of a long strange trip through the postal services?