- March 18, 2010
- 12:19 AM
- 5 views
Palliative Care in Cancer Centers - Horses of many different colors
by Christian Sinclair, MD in Pallimed: a Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog
The third Palliative Care related article released for St. Patrick's (Palladius) day is a article that speaks to what many of us in the field know already:
Palliative Care is a chameleon: it looks different depending on the background of the institution.
But as the editor-in-chief of the Lancet has said: "It is not true, until it is published." Well JAMA has published a little bit of truth with the article: "Availability and Integration of Palliative Care at US Cancer Centers." We have a........ Read more »
David Hui, MD, MSc, Ahmed Elsayem, MD, Maxine De La Cruz, MD, Ann Berger, MD, Donna S. Zhukovsky, MD, Shana Palla, MS, Avery Evans, Nada Fadul, MD, & J. Lynn Palmer, PhD; Eduardo Bruera, MD. (2010) Availability and Integration of Palliative Care at US Cancer Centers. JAMA, 303(11), 1054-1061. info:/
- March 17, 2010
- 11:52 PM
- 7 views
Cancer Reporting in the Media - Guess what they report on?
by Christian Sinclair, MD in Pallimed: a Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog
Image via WikipediaSt. Patrick's day is good for celebrating your Irish heritage or fondness for food coloring, but it may have a new tradition, the release of major Palliative Care articles. Three major articles came out this week. Today JAMA published "Availability and Integration of Palliative Care at US Cancer Centers", yesterday the Archives of Internal Medicine released "Cancer and the Media: How Does the News Report on Treatment and Outcomes?" and on the 15th CMAJ released "Why do patie........ Read more »
Fishman, J., Ten Have, T., & Casarett, D. (2010) Cancer and the Media: How Does the News Report on Treatment and Outcomes?. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(6), 515-518. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2010.11
- March 17, 2010
- 09:42 PM
- 16 views
Genetics of Alcoholism
by Allison in Dormivigilia
A recent paper in PNAS identified many single-nucleotide polymorphisms and environmental factors, such multiple drug abuse, tied to alcoholism... Read more »
Bierut LJ, Agrawal A, Bucholz KK, Doheny KF, Laurie C, Pugh E, Fisher S, Fox L, Howells W, Bertelsen S.... (2010) A genome-wide association study of alcohol dependence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 20202923
- March 17, 2010
- 09:40 PM
- 11 views
Epidemiology of Human Prion Diseases in the U.S.
by Brian Appleby in CJD Blogger
In January 2010, members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an article in PLoS One regarding epidemiological data of human prion diseases in the United States. To those who have attended prion meetings in past couple of years, this is not new data as it has been presented before. The study examines the incidence of classical CJD and variant CJD (vCJD) within the U.S. between 1979-2008 and examines some basic demographic features of this population. The data ........ Read more »
Holman, R., Belay, E., Christensen, K., Maddox, R., Minino, A., Folkema, A., Haberling, D., Hammett, T., Kochanek, K., Sejvar, J.... (2010) Human Prion Diseases in the United States. PLoS ONE, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008521
- March 17, 2010
- 05:52 PM
- 46 views
On the Origin of Animals
by Lucas in thoughtomics
Think of an animal – any animal you’d like. Unless you’re a big fan of sponges or jellyfish, you likely thought of an animal that belongs to the Bilateria. This group includes all animals that show bilateral symmetry, so every single insect, vertebrate and mollusk belongs to this group. Like in any large family, some [...]... Read more »
Christodoulou, F., Raible, F., Tomer, R., Simakov, O., Trachana, K., Klaus, S., Snyman, H., Hannon, G., Bork, P., & Arendt, D. (2010) Ancient animal microRNAs and the evolution of tissue identity. Nature, 463(7284), 1084-1088. DOI: 10.1038/nature08744
- March 17, 2010
- 05:13 PM
- 22 views
Quartz, Cretan handaxes and Paleolithic seafaring
by Julien Riel-Salvatore in A Very Remote Period Indeed
A couple of months ago, I posted on the recent discovery of quartz hand axes on Crete by Strasser and Runnels. That post spurred quite a bit of discussion, and I also provided some additional thoughts shortly thereafter, based on the colonization of Cyprus. Since then, we've learned that these implements will be described in detail in the June issues of the journal Hesperia, and some decent photographs of some of the implements in question were published, which provides some more convincing data........ Read more »
Broodbank, C. (2006) The Origins and Early Development of Mediterranean Maritime Activity. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 19(2). DOI: 10.1558//jmea.2006.v19i2.199
- March 17, 2010
- 02:28 PM
- 23 views
The Irish Diaspora: Why Even Trinidadians Are a Little Irish
by Krystal D'Costa in Anthropology in Practice
Happy St. Paddy's Day! This Irish national holiday celebrates Patrick who is—arguably—the most recognizable of Irish saints, known for championing Irish Christianity (while using a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity). The observance has also been viewed as a one day break from the abstinence of the Lenten season. While it still has religious undertones, for a vast majority of people, St.
... Read more »
Rodgers, Nini. (2007) The Irish in the Caribbean 1641-1837: An Overview. Irish Migration Studies in Latin America, 5(3), 145-156. info:/
- March 17, 2010
- 01:53 PM
- 21 views
Leptin Resurrected: Leptin Therapy in Type I Diabetes
by Kari Kenefick in Promega Connections
An online science news item jumped out at me the other day, news about leptin and it’s potential use in type I diabetes. While leptin was certainly familiar, it’s recollection brought vague feelings of disappointment. Wasn’t leptin the naturally occurring fat burning compound that was going to make us all thin?
In case you too are [...]... Read more »
Wang MY, Chen L, Clark GO, Lee Y, Stevens RD, Ilkayeva OR, Wenner BR, Bain JR, Charron MJ, Newgard CB.... (2010) Feature Article: Leptin therapy in insulin-deficient type I diabetes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 20194735
- March 17, 2010
- 12:05 PM
- 35 views
Painting lines on the playground - easiest physical activity intervention. EVER.
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In most developed nations, kids get far less physical activity than they did just a few generations ago. Given the strong links between physical inactivity and health risk (and given that we're now seeing "adult" diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes in children and teenagers), this has become a very real public health concern. Unfortunately, when it comes to increasing childhood physical activity levels, people often want to reinvent the wheel. For example, many peop........ Read more »
STRATTON, G., & MULLAN, E. (2005) The effect of multicolor playground markings on children's physical activity level during recess. Preventive Medicine, 41(5-6), 828-833. DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2005.07.009
- March 17, 2010
- 11:00 AM
- 23 views
Indigenous people have smaller ecological footprint on Amazon than colonists
by Rob Goldstein in Conservation Maven
A new study in the journal Conservation Biology shows that indigenous people in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon have a lower impact on the rainforest than the colonists who have moved into the area.
This bodes ill for conservation of the Amazon rainforest given the increasing settlement of the region by outsiders, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, and cultural changes in indigenous communities.... Read more »
LU, F., GRAY, C., BILSBORROW, R., MENA, C., ERLIEN, C., BREMNER, J., BARBIERI, A., & WALSH, S. (2010) Contrasting Colonist and Indigenous Impacts on Amazonian Forests. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01463.x
- March 17, 2010
- 10:52 AM
- 25 views
Same-Sex Attraction Does Not Increase Suicide Risk...
by Ultimo167 in Strong Silent Types
A slightly convoluted but ultimately worthwhile study by Zhao et al. (2010), in which they both challenge the proposition that same-sex attraction leads to greater suicide risk, as well as plead with us all to stop thinking of GLB (their term) and its numerous alternatives, as one enormous homogenised blob. Their word of choice is 'oversimplify' (p.105).
... Read more »
Zhao, Y., Montoro, R., Igartua, K., & Thombs, B. (2010) Suicidal Ideation and Attempt Among Adolescents Reporting “Unsure” Sexual Identity or Heterosexual Identity Plus Same-Sex Attraction or Behavior: Forgotten Groups?. Journal of the American Academy of Child , 49(2), 104-113. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-201002000-00004
- March 17, 2010
- 10:36 AM
- 31 views
Nature Takes One Back from Nurture
by Rob Mitchum in ScienceLife
Ah, nature and nurture, those eternal enemies. What once used to be the domain of philosophy and English classes has migrated over the past century to the sphere of science, culminating in the completion of The Human Genome Project in 2003. But far from settling this age-old battle, the HGP may have reinvigorated it. Now [...]... Read more »
Zhang, D., Cheng, L., Badner, J., Chen, C., Chen, Q., Luo, W., Craig, D., Redman, M., Gershon, E., & Liu, C. (2010) Genetic Control of Individual Differences in Gene-Specific Methylation in Human Brain. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 86(3), 411-419. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2010.02.005
- March 17, 2010
- 10:01 AM
- 36 views
Dopamine and theory of mind: another autism/schizophrenia dichotomy
by sandygautam in The Mouse Trap
Image via Wikipedia
There is an article in press in Neuropsyhcologia by Lackner et al that related Dopamine (DA) levels as measured by Eye Blink Rate (EBR) to preschoolers (3-5 yrs old) Representational theory of Mind (RTM).
The authors hypothesized that as one of the neural correlates of RTM is dMPFC, and as dMPFC has dopamine receptors More >Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Related posts:The Mind – Brain dichotomy: What it means to have a mind Researchers at Harvard, Gray et a........ Read more »
Lackner, C., Bowman, L., & Sabbagh, M. (2010) Dopaminergic functioning and preschoolers’ theory of mind. Neuropsychologia. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.02.027
- March 17, 2010
- 09:55 AM
- 26 views
Nest making, oxytocin, and social bonding
by The Dog Zombie in The Dog Zombie
I encountered Nest making and oxytocin comparably promote wound healing in isolation reared rats [1] while reading about how stress affects wound healing, and it drew me in with its lure of drawing connections between nest making and oxytocin. Oxytocin does a lot of things in the body, but what this paper was interested in was its participation in social bonding. You all must already know the coolest story about oxytocin, the story about the two species of voles. The species are almost identic........ Read more »
Vitalo A, Fricchione J, Casali M, Berdichevsky Y, Hoge EA, Rauch SL, Berthiaume F, Yarmush ML, Benson H, Fricchione GL.... (2009) Nest making and oxytocin comparably promote wound healing in isolation reared rats. PloS one, 4(5). PMID: 19436750
Young, L. (1998) Neuroendocrine bases of monogamy. Trends in Neurosciences, 21(2), 71-75. DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(97)01167-3
- March 17, 2010
- 09:15 AM
- 46 views
'Wasabi receptor' is snake's infrared sensor
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
SNAKES have a unique sensory system for detecting infrared radiation, with which they can visualize temperature changes within their immediate environment. Using this special sense, they can image the body heat radiating from warm-blooded animals nearby. This enables them to track their prey quickly and with great accuracy, even in the dark, and to target the most vulnerable parts of the prey's body when they strike. It warns them of the presence of predators, and may also be used to find approp........ Read more »
Gracheva, E., Ingolia, N., Kelly, Y., Cordero-Morales, J., Hollopeter, G., Chesler, A., Sánchez, E., Perez, J., Weissman, J., & Julius, D. (2010) Molecular basis of infrared detection by snakes. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature08943
- March 17, 2010
- 09:07 AM
- 31 views
Tip of the Week: Word Add-In for Ontology Recognition
In today’s tip I want to make you aware of a tool that I think will help researchers to present their own data and publications in an accurate and universally searchable way. I learned of the resource (UCSDBioLit) through an article in one of my recent BioMed Central article alert emails. This resource allows authors to mark-up their own publications with XML tags AS THEY WRITE their papers. This will allow faster and more accurate semantic searching of their research.
A huge problem in ........ Read more »
Fink, J., Fernicola, P., Chandran, R., Parastatidis, S., Wade, A., Naim, O., Quinn, G., & Bourne, P. (2010) Word add-in for ontology recognition: semantic enrichment of scientific literature. BMC Bioinformatics, 11(1), 103. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2105-11-103
- March 17, 2010
- 06:27 AM
- 52 views
Hunkin’s Hypothesis: Technology Is What Makes Us Human
by Duncan Hull in O'Really?
Cartoonist and engineer Tim Hunkin is probably best known for his exhibits at the Science Museum in London and his Under The Pier Show “a mad arcade of home-made slot machines & simulator rides on Southwold Pier, Suffolk”. His website is a treasure trove of weird and wonderful things.
Tim has an interesting proposition, let’s call [...]... Read more »
Frances Evans. (1998) Two legs, thing using and talking: The origins of the creative engineering mind. AI , 12(3), 185-213. DOI: 10.1007/BF01206195
- March 17, 2010
- 06:25 AM
- 93 views
700-year-old Brain Found Preserved!
by Hesitant Iconoclast in NeuroWhoa!
Evolutionary psychology tends to receive harsh criticism, and often rightly so. One of the main reasons for this is the severe lack of evidence for many of it's proposals given that the paucity of fossilised brains fails to bolster many a case. And it isn't even anyone's fault. That's just the way it goes sometimes, that the brain is a jelly-like substance that is subject to decay after death, and there's no way we can objectively analyse or verify any differences in brains of long ago with brai........ Read more »
Papageorgopoulou, C., Rentsch, K., Raghavan, M., Hofmann, M., Colacicco, G., Gallien, V., Bianucci, R., & Rühli, F. (2010) Preservation of cell structures in a medieval infant brain: A paleohistological, paleogenetic, radiological and physico-chemical study. NeuroImage, 50(3), 893-901. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.01.029
- March 17, 2010
- 06:14 AM
- 43 views
Measles week, Part III: Not the answers
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
This is part III of Measles week. In Part II (“Emerging disease”) I talked about the origin of measles; in Part I (“Introduction”), I posed the question of why measles case-fatality rates dropped so dramatically over the first half of the 20th century (example chart of death rates here). Today I’m going to quickly [...]... Read more »
Condran, G. (2008) The Elusive Role of Scientific Medicine in Mortality Decline: Diphtheria in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Philadelphia. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 63(4), 484-522. DOI: 10.1093/jhmas/jrn039
- March 17, 2010
- 05:53 AM
- 42 views
Disclosure of their diagnosis impairs the social functioning of people with schizophrenia
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
People don't need to be treated as a stereotype for harm to occur; their mere belief that they could be viewed in a stereotyped fashion is enough - a phenomenon known as 'stereotype threat'. For example, women reminded of the stereotype that men are better at maths tend to perform more poorly in a subsequent maths task, even if they are actually treated fairly. Now Julie Henry and colleagues have extended this line of research to the domain of mental health. They've found that patients with a sc........ Read more »
Henry, J., Hippel, C., & Shapiro, L. (2010) Stereotype threat contributes to social difficulties in people with schizophrenia. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(1), 31-41. DOI: 10.1348/014466509X421963
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