- January 19, 2009
- 06:04 AM
- 1,397 views
Using the QUADAS Tool to Assess the Quality of Research
by Mike Reinold in MikeReinold.com
Have you been feeling lately that the quality of research reports are not always the same across journals? Or that some articles you read do not appear to have the best methodology? With all the emphasis on evidence based medicine, it is more valuable now than ever to assure that research reports are of superior quality to assure that we are conveying accurate information to our colleagues. Today’s guest post is written by Harrison Vaughan, PT, DPT. Harrison is a phys........ Read more »
Penny Whiting, Anne WS Rutjes, Johannes B Reitsma, Patrick MM Bossuyt, & Jos Kleijnen. (2003) The development of QUADAS: a tool for the quality assessment of studies of diagnostic accuracy included in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 3(1), 25. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-3-25
- January 19, 2009
- 12:29 AM
- 1,740 views
PHODA findings - chronic low back pain and people with high and low kinesiophobia
by Adiemusfree in Healthskills: Skills for Healthy Living
I’ve written quite a few times about the PHODA - photographs of activities of daily living - and I’m in the process of developing a New Zealand contextual version of it for use in the Pain Management Centre in which I work. Today I’m briefly discussing another paper in press about the use of a [...]... Read more »
Z TROST, C FRANCE, & J THOMAS. (2009) Examination of the photograph series of daily activities (PHODA) scale in chronic low back pain patients with high and low kinesiophobia. Pain. DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2008.11.016
Z TROST, C FRANCE, & J THOMAS. (2009) Examination of the photograph series of daily activities (PHODA) scale in chronic low back pain patients with high and low kinesiophobia. Pain. DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2008.11.016
- January 18, 2009
- 11:49 PM
- 1,879 views
How does depression lead to cardiovascular adverse events?
by Dr Shock in Dr Shock MD PhD
Depression is recognized as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease in healthy patients, for recurrent events in patients with established cardiovascular disease, and for adverse outcomes after coronary bypass graft surgery. Physical inactivity largely explains the association between depressive symptoms and adverse cardiovascular events such as heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, transient [...]... Read more »
M. A. Whooley, P. de Jonge, E. Vittinghoff, C. Otte, R. Moos, R. M. Carney, S. Ali, S. Dowray, B. Na, M. D. Feldman.... (2008) Depressive Symptoms, Health Behaviors, and Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(20), 2379-2388. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2008.711
- January 18, 2009
- 11:44 PM
- 1,375 views
Stick insects not so excited about sex, apparently
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Stick insects in the genus Timema have evolved asexual reproduction on five different occasions in their evolutionary history, according to a new study in this month's Evolution [$-a]. Why? Well, it turns out that from an evolutionary perspective, sex isn't always a good thing.
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M. Dybdahl, & A. Storfer. (2003) Parasite local adaptation: Red Queen versus Suicide King. Trends in Ecology , 18(10), 523-30. DOI: 10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00223-4
P.D. Keightley, & S.P. Otto. (2006) Interference among deleterious mutations favours sex and recombination in finite populations. Nature, 443(7107), 89-92. DOI: 10.1038/nature05049
T. Schwander, & B.J. Crespi. (2009) Multiple direct transitions from sexual reproduction to apomictic parthenogenesis in Timema stick insects. Evolution, 63(1), 84-103. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00524.x
- January 18, 2009
- 11:10 PM
- 1,690 views
Eat fish and acidify the oceans
by Mason Posner in A Fish Eye View
When teaching marine biology I warn my students that if they are there to just learn about sharks and dolphins they will be sorely disappointed, because only microscopic plankton have the biomass to really affect the oceans. Being an ichthyologist this always hurt a bit. A recent paper in Science has restored my faith that all [...]... Read more »
R. W. Wilson, F. J. Millero, J. R. Taylor, P. J. Walsh, V. Christensen, S. Jennings, & M. Grosell. (2009) Contribution of Fish to the Marine Inorganic Carbon Cycle. Science, 323(5912), 359-362. DOI: 10.1126/science.1157972
- January 18, 2009
- 07:27 PM
- 173 views
How chemists can help astrobiologists...
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Quite a puzzler in astrochemistry and astrobiology is where exactly prebiotic amino acids form. We know they can form in interstellar space. We’ve found them inside chondritic meteorites. All the ingredients exist in the interstellar medium. There have even been reports of glycine detected in interstellar space. On the other hand, those reports are still unverified. But are we really looking for the right thing…?... Read more »
M. Lattelais, Y. Ellinger, & B. Zanda. (2007) Theoretical study of prebiotic precursors-2: about glycine, its N-carboxyanhydride and their protonated ions. International Journal of Astrobiology, 6(01), 37. DOI: 10.1017/S1473550406003521
- January 18, 2009
- 01:28 PM
- 1,040 views
Slumber quality important for learning
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
It's not just the amount of sleep we get that is so important for learning, but the quality of that sleep. That's according to a new study that made precise use of beeping noises to disrupt deep "slow-wave" sleep among 13 elderly participants (average age 60 years), without actually waking them up.The beeping was used in such a way that although the participants' were deprived of deep sleep, their total sleep time and number of sleep stages were unaffected (compared with a comparison night of un........ Read more »
Ysbrand D Van Der Werf1,2, Ellemarije Altena1,3,, Menno M Schoonheim, Ernesto J Sanz-Arigita, Jose´ C Vis, Wim De Rijke, & Eus J W Van Someren. (2009) Sleep benefits subsequent hippocampal functioning. Nature Neuroscience.
- January 18, 2009
- 10:46 AM
- 1,584 views
Are Generic Drugs Really Equivalent to Brand Name Drugs?
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Countless drugs are manufactured as generic equivalents to brand name counterparts. Generic drugs must be bioequivalent to the brand name drug, meaning that they contain the same active ingredient at the same dose, in the same dosage form, with the same route of administration. The rate and extent of availability of the drugs must also [...]... Read more »
G Borgheini. (2003) The bioequivalence and therapeutic efficacy of generic versus brand-name psychoative drugs. Clinical Therapeutics, 25(6), 1578-1592. DOI: 10.1016/S0149-2918(03)80157-1
A. S. Kesselheim, A. S. Misono, J. L. Lee, M. R. Stedman, M. A. Brookhart, N. K. Choudhry, & W. H. Shrank. (2008) Clinical Equivalence of Generic and Brand-Name Drugs Used in Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(21), 2514-2526. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2008.758
P Meredith. (2003) Bioequivalence and other unresolved issues in generic drug substitution. Clinical Therapeutics, 25(11), 2875-2890. DOI: 10.1016/S0149-2918(03)80340-5
- January 18, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 1,775 views
Wealthy men's women have more orgasms
by Bjørn Østman in Pleiotropy
If your man is rich you'll have a higher frequency of orgasms. At least if you're Chinese (not including Tibet and Hong Kong). Why is this interesting at all, except that it's about sex, which human find interesting in a of itself? Well, because we have no idea why women have orgasms in the first place. It pretty clear why, and notably when, men have orgasms, but no one really knows why women have them.Male income and height are were included to measure male quality, because both parameters have........ Read more »
T POLLET, & D NETTLE. (2009) Partner wealth predicts self-reported orgasm frequency in a sample of Chinese women. Evolution and Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.11.002
- January 17, 2009
- 04:03 PM
- 987 views
How much selection is going on in humans?
by Thomas Mailund in Mailund on the Internet
A priori we expect that most mutations, by far, have no consequence on fitness, while some have a negative effect and very few have a positive effect. Consequently, we can generally ignore selection when analysing genomic sequences.
However, over the last few years a number of papers have suggested that adaptive (positive) selection has played a [...]... Read more »
James J. Cai, J. Michael Macpherson, Guy Sella, & Dmitri A. Petrov. (2009) Pervasive Hitchhiking at Coding and Regulatory Sites in Humans. PLoS Genetics, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000336
- January 17, 2009
- 02:27 AM
- 825 views
How can I be failing? - Unskilled and Unaware of It
by Sr. Edith Bogue in Monastic Musings
I noticed a surprising phenomenon last semester. Several first-year college students were getting consistently low scores on chapter quizzes - and they did not seem the least bit bothered or concerned about it. They were similarly unperturbed about scores below 60% on the first exam. When they received their mid-semester grade report, though, two of them came to see me, astounded to get such low grades. Their surprise was, of course, surprising to me: how could they possibly think that they........ Read more »
Kruger, Justin, & Dunning, David. (1999) Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134. DOI: http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf
- January 16, 2009
- 05:35 PM
- 1,383 views
NOS1 - An Impulsivity Gene?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Neuroskeptic has warned before of the pitfalls of candidate gene association studies. With small sample sizes and multiple comparisons, false positive results are all too common, especially in behavioural genetics. Yet it's not all bad. The renowned Klaus-Peter Lesch and colleagues have just produced a paper which is a cut above the rest. They report on an association between a promoter region polymorphism in the gene NOS1 and "impulsive" traits.NOS1 codes for the enzyme nitric oxide synthase 1,........ Read more »
Andreas Reif, MD; Christian P. Jacob, MD; Dan Rujescu, MD; Sabine Herterich, PhD; Sebastian Lang, MD;, Lise Gutknecht, PhD; Christina G. Baehne, Dipl-Psych; Alexander Strobel, PhD; Christine M. Freitag, MD;, Ina Giegling, MD; Marcel Romanos, MD; Annette Hartmann, MD; Michael Rösler, MD; Tobias J. Renner, MD;, & Andreas J. Fallgatter, MD; Wolfgang Retz, MD; Ann-Christine Ehlis, PhD; Klaus-Peter Lesch, MD. (2009) Influence of Functional Variant of Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase on Impulsive Behaviors in Humans. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(1), 41-50. DOI: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/66/1/41
- January 16, 2009
- 04:57 PM
- 1,621 views
Phylogenetic inference under recombination using Bayesian stochastic topology selection
by Thomas Mailund in Mailund on the Internet
There’s an interesting paper in the current issue of Bioinformatics that I’ve just finished reading:
Phylogenetic inference under recombination using Bayesian stochastic topology selection
Webb et al. Bioinformatics 25(2) 197-203
Abstract
Motivation: Conventional phylogenetic analysis for characterizing the relatedness between taxa typically assumes that a single relationship exists between species at every site along the genome. This assumption fails [...]... Read more »
A. Webb, J. M. Hancock, & C. C. Holmes. (2008) Phylogenetic inference under recombination using Bayesian stochastic topology selection. Bioinformatics, 25(2), 197-203. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btn607
A. Webb, J. M. Hancock, & C. C. Holmes. (2008) Phylogenetic inference under recombination using Bayesian stochastic topology selection. Bioinformatics, 25(2), 197-203. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btn607
- January 16, 2009
- 03:29 PM
- 904 views
More on the peopling of the Americas
by blgtnjew in Hominin Dental Anthropology
In the previous post, I left out another part of the migration into the Americas that is marked by another set of haplogroups. It has been long believed that two major migrations occurred into the Americas. The first of the migrations were the ones that came down the Pacific coast and through the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets nearly simultaneously around 15-14 kya. As previously mentioned, these populations quickly dispersed through the Americas is very little time. They were like speedi........ Read more »
U PEREGO, A ACHILLI, N ANGERHOFER, M ACCETTURO, M PALA, A OLIVIERI, B KASHANI, K RITCHIE, R SCOZZARI, & Q KONG. (2009) Distinctive Paleo-Indian Migration Routes from Beringia Marked by Two Rare mtDNA Haplogroups. Current Biology, 19(1), 1-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.058
- January 16, 2009
- 01:31 PM
- 967 views
Lessons from the Placebo Gene
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Update: See also Lessons from the Video Game BrainThe Journal of Neuroscience has published a Swedish study which, according to New Scientist (and the rest) is something of a breakthrough:First 'Placebo Gene' DiscoveredI rather like the idea of a dummy gene made of sugar, or perhaps a gene for being Brian Moloko, but what they're referring to is a gene, TPH2, which allegedly determines susceptibility to the placebo effect. Interesting, if true. Genetic Future was skeptical of the study because o........ Read more »
T. Furmark, L. Appel, S. Henningsson, F. Ahs, V. Faria, C. Linnman, A. Pissiota, O. Frans, M. Bani, P. Bettica.... (2008) A Link between Serotonin-Related Gene Polymorphisms, Amygdala Activity, and Placebo-Induced Relief from Social Anxiety. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(49), 13066-13074. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2534-08.2008
- January 16, 2009
- 01:30 PM
- 993 views
Serotonin! What Is It Good For?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Absolutely nothing...? Not quite, but it may be good for a lot less than anyone thought. At least according to a recent paper in PLoS One describing what happens to mice given genetic knockout which left them almost completely unable to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin (5HT).The mice lacked either one, or both, of two genes called TPH1 and TPH2, which code for two related enzymes called tryptophan hydroxylase-1 and tryptophan hydroxylase-2. These are necessary for the production of serot........ Read more »
Katerina V. Savelieva, Shulei Zhao, Vladimir M. Pogorelov, Indrani Rajan, Qi Yang, Emily Cullinan, & Thomas H. Lanthorn. (2008) Genetic Disruption of Both Tryptophan Hydroxylase Genes Dramatically Reduces Serotonin and Affects Behavior in Models Sensitive to Antidepressants. PLoS ONE, 3(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003301
- January 16, 2009
- 01:30 PM
- 1,152 views
A Gene for Power-Line Leukemia?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Some people believe that living near high-voltage power lines raises the risk of childhood cancer. Most people are skeptical. A Chinese group have just published a paper in the journal Leukemia and Lymphoma, claiming that a genetic polymorphism in the XRCC1 gene, which has been previously linked to various cancers, raises the risk of electromagnetic field (EMF)-related leukemia. People who believe in EMF-related leukemia are happy. The Daily Mail report on this study quoting no less than three s........ Read more »
You Yang, Xingming Jin, Chonghuai Yan, Ying Tian, Jingyan Tang, & Xiaoming Shen. (2008) Case-only study of interactions between DNA repair genes (hMLH1, APEX1, MGMT, XRCC1 and XPD) and low-frequency electromagnetic fields in childhood acute leukemia. Leukemia and Lymphoma, 49(12), 2344-2350. DOI: 10.1080/10428190802441347
- January 16, 2009
- 12:34 PM
- 1,146 views
Ancient DNA analysis of the Icelandic settlers
by Thomas Mailund in Mailund on the Internet
I’ve just finished reading this paper in PLoS Genetics:
Sequences From First Settlers Reveal Rapid Evolution in Icelandic mtDNA Pool Helgason et al. PLoS Genetics, 5 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000343
Abstract
A major task in human genetics is to understand the nature of the evolutionary processes that have shaped the gene pools of contemporary populations. Ancient DNA studies have [...]... Read more »
Agnar Helgason, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Shyamali Ghosh, Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, Maria Lourdes Sampietro, Elena Gigli, Adam Baker, Jaume Bertranpetit, Lilja Árnadóttir, Unnur Þorsteinsdottir.... (2009) Sequences From First Settlers Reveal Rapid Evolution in Icelandic mtDNA Pool. PLoS Genetics, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000343
- January 16, 2009
- 12:26 PM
- 1,199 views
2008 - Our progress and achievements (part 2)
by Cancer Research UK in Cancer Research UK - Science Update
In the previous post, we looked at some of our research successes in fundamental cancer biology over the past year.
Another important aspect of our work is understanding cancer risks, and finding ways to prevent the disease.
Here are just a few examples of our progress in this area in 2008…
Breast cancer risk
As we reported, researchers at [...]... Read more »
P. D.P. Pharoah, A. C. Antoniou, D. F. Easton, & B. A.J. Ponder. (2008) Polygenes, Risk Prediction, and Targeted Prevention of Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(26), 2796-2803. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa0708739
T. Pischon, H. Boeing, S. Weikert, N. Allen, T. Key, N. F. Johnsen, A. Tjonneland, M. T. Severinsen, K. Overvad, S. Rohrmann.... (2008) Body Size and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers , 17(11), 3252-3261. DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0609
V S Benson, K Pirie, J Green, D Casabonne, & V Beral. (2008) Lifestyle factors and primary glioma and meningioma tumours in the Million Women Study cohort. British Journal of Cancer, 99(1), 185-190. DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604445
F. J. Gilbert, S. M. Astley, M. G.C. Gillan, O. F. Agbaje, M. G. Wallis, J. James, C. R.M. Boggis, & S. W. Duffy. (2008) Single Reading with Computer-Aided Detection for Screening Mammography. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(16), 1675-1684. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0803545
L Linsell, C C Burgess, & A J Ramirez. (2008) Breast cancer awareness among older women. British Journal of Cancer, 99(8), 1221-1225. DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604668
COLLABORATIVEGROUPONEPIDEMIOLO. (2008) Ovarian cancer and oral contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of data from 45 epidemiological studies including 23 257 women with ovarian cancer and 87 303 controls. The Lancet, 371(9609), 303-314. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60167-1
R L Bowen, S W Duffy, D A Ryan, I R Hart, & J L Jones. (2008) Early onset of breast cancer in a group of British black women. British Journal of Cancer, 98(2), 277-281. DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604174
- January 16, 2009
- 12:10 PM
- 820 views
Faith healers sabotage vaccination efforts
According to the World Health Organization, the second most important thing that we can do to improve child health around the world is better vaccination (number one is clean water). So anything that blocks vaccine uptake, especially in low income countries, is a major healthcare problem.A recent study has looked at the factors that affect vaccine uptake in Haiti, and found that the vaccination rate is an astonishing 50% lower in children whose mothers are frequent users of faith healers. This ........ Read more »
Adamson S Muula, Matine M Polycarpe, Jayakaran Job, Seter Siziya, & Emmanuel Rudatsikira. (2009) Association between maternal use of traditional healer services and child vaccination coverage in Pont-Sonde, Haiti. International Journal for Equity in Health, 8(1), 1. DOI: 10.1186/1475-9276-8-1
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