- December 19, 2008
- 08:55 AM
- 2,078 views
Freezing Coherent Field Growth in a Cavity by the Quantum Zeno Effect
by Chad Orzel in Uncertain Principles
When I saw ZapperZ's post about this paper (arxiv version, expensive journal version) from the group of Serge Haroche in Paris, I thought it might be something I would need to incorporate into Chapter 5 of the book-in-progress. Happily, it's much too technical to require extensive re-writing. Having taken the time to read it, though, I might as well make a ResearchBlogging post of it... (My comments will be based on the arxiv version, because it's freely downloadable.)
So, "Freezing Coherent Fi........ Read more »
J. Bernu, S. Deléglise, C. Sayrin, S. Kuhr, I. Dotsenko, M. Brune, J. M. Raimond, & S. Haroche. (2008) Freezing Coherent Field Growth in a Cavity by the Quantum Zeno Effect. Physical Review Letters, 101(18). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.180402
- December 19, 2008
- 01:47 AM
- 1,666 views
The Power of Gratitude to Cultivate Happiness
by Walter Jessen in Highlight HEALTH
You’ve undoubtably heard the adage, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Ongoing research is finding that the pen is indeed a mighty weapon that can cultivate happiness. According to Dr. Steven Toepfer at Kent State University, we all possesses an amazing resource — gratitude — that can be used to improve our quality of [...]... Read more »
N. P. Morgan, K. D. Graves, E. A. Poggi, & B. D. Cheson. (2008) Implementing an Expressive Writing Study in a Cancer Clinic. The Oncologist, 13(2), 196-204. DOI: 10.1634/theoncologist.2007-0147
- December 19, 2008
- 01:14 AM
- 1,324 views
Friday Weird Science: Sex in an MRI, is that romantic or what!
by Evil Monkey in Neurotopia
So I was GOING to do a post on Fournier's gangrene, but considering the way it completely grossed out everyone I showed it to, perhaps it's not such a good idea. I'd hate for you all to run screaming. So we're not doing it. If you're REALLY curious, you can look it up, but I am not responsible for any emotional scarring you may suffer having seen the pictures.
And anyway, I found something better to appeal to all of your dirty minds. Courtesy of Coturnix, who I think got it from Pharyngula ........ Read more »
Schultz WW, van Andel P, Sabelis I, Mooyaart E. (1999) Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitals during coitus and female sexual arousal. British Medical Journal.
- December 19, 2008
- 01:03 AM
- 820 views
If he starts smoking, does Table 13 suggest he can quit any time?
by Just Another Judoka in I CAN HAS SLEEP NAO?
This week it was my turn to choose the paper in our journal club. Last time it was Watson’s genome, the first diploid human genome to be sequenced with 454 technology. This paper is a sort of prelude to it- Craig Venter’s genome. For Venter’s genome they used Sanger sequencing. They also karyotyped him. Regarding [...]... Read more »
Samuel Levy, Granger Sutton, Pauline C. Ng, Lars Feuk, Aaron L. Halpern, Brian P. Walenz, Nelson Axelrod, Jiaqi Huang, Ewen F. Kirkness, Gennady Denisov.... (2007) The Diploid Genome Sequence of an Individual Human. PLoS Biology, 5(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050254
- December 19, 2008
- 12:49 AM
- 865 views
Randomise your samples!
by Juan Nunez-Iglesias in I Love Symposia!
Microarrays certainly get a lot of flak for being noisy sources of data. It’s certainly a valid concern, since a single microarray usually measures the expression levels of tens of thousands of genes, and only a few biological samples are examined. There’s no hope of accurately estimating the levels of that many variables with so [...]... Read more »
Hyuna Yang, Christina A. Harrington, Kristina Vartanian, Christopher D. Coldren, Rob Hall, & Gary A. Churchill. (2008) Randomization in Laboratory Procedure Is Key to Obtaining Reproducible Microarray Results. PLoS ONE, 3(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003724
E BLALOCK, K CHEN, A STROMBERG, C NORRIS, I KADISH, S KRANER, N PORTER, & P LANDFIELD. (2005) Harnessing the power of gene microarrays for the study of brain aging and Alzheimer's disease: Statistical reliability and functional correlation. Ageing Research Reviews. DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2005.06.006
- December 19, 2008
- 12:20 AM
- 781 views
Geeking out on PC Research
by Pallimed Bloggers in Pallimed: a Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog
Journal of Clinical Oncology has a paper looking at the changes in the quantity and quality of palliative care and hospice research over the last 100 years. Indeed. The paper looks at the quantity and type of palliative care articles indexed by Medline, comparing those published before 1970 with each 5 year period after 1970 through to 2005 . They essentially looked for papers with the terms 'palliative,' 'hospice,' or 'terminal care' in their citation (they allowed for truncated/variable........ Read more »
J. Tieman, R. Sladek, & D. Currow. (2008) Changes in the Quantity and Level of Evidence of Palliative and Hospice Care Literature: The Last Century. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 26(35), 5679-5683. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2008.17.6230
- December 19, 2008
- 12:00 AM
- 671 views
Goldacre-esque
by Erika Cule in Blogging the PhD
A closer look at a meta-analysis of clinical trials.... Read more »
A.-W. Chan, A. Hrobjartsson, K. J Jorgensen, P. C Gotzsche, & D. G Altman. (2008) Discrepancies in sample size calculations and data analyses reported in randomised trials: comparison of publications with protocols. BMJ, 337(dec04 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a2299
- December 18, 2008
- 07:02 PM
- 993 views
DNA Repair During Spermatogenesis: Gimme a Break!
by barn owl in Guadalupe Storm-Petrel
Although we often tend to attribute infertility to dysfunction of the female reproductive process, approximately 50% of cases are likely to result from abnormalities in spermatogenesis, or male sex cell production. After puberty, spermatogenesis continues throughout the life of a male mammal, proceeding from mitotic division of spermatogonia, through meiotic division of spermatocytes, to [...]... Read more »
Catriona Paul, Joanne E. Povey, Nicola J. Lawrence, Jim Selfridge, David W. Melton, & Philippa T. K. Saunders. (2007) Deletion of Genes Implicated in Protecting the Integrity of Male Germ Cells Has Differential Effects on the Incidence of DNA Breaks and Germ Cell Loss. PLoS ONE, 2(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000989
- December 18, 2008
- 06:15 PM
- 1,803 views
California is Safe?
by Maria in Green Gabbro
According to a study of deaths from natural hazard "events"* across the U.S., earthquakes, volcanoes, and other spectacular geophysical hazards are much less deadly than common weather events like heat waves, floods, and thunderstorms. The study was published in the open-access International Journal of Health Geographics, so you should all be able to follow the link - but if you would rather read the summary version, the Los Angeles Times noticed that California is mostly safe, and ran with that........ Read more »
Kevin A Borden, & Susan L Cutter. (2008) Spatial patterns of natural hazards mortality in the United States. International Journal of Health Geographics, 7(1), 64. DOI: 10.1186/1476-072X-7-64
- December 18, 2008
- 05:38 PM
- 1,290 views
If you put a snail shell to your ear can you hear the sound of your thoughts?
You’ll be seeing a lot of this button around the web today as it’s part of the celebrations for PLoS @ Two. It’s certainly something worth celebrating as PLoSOne is bringing a lot of good science to a wide audience. That’s particularly important with interdisciplinary papers because it’s very easy to publish them in just [...]... Read more »
Peter R. Teske, Isabelle Papadopoulos, Christopher D. McQuaid, Brent K. Newman, & Nigel P. Barker. (2007) Climate Change, Genetics or Human Choice: Why Were the Shells of Mankind's Earliest Ornament Larger in the Pleistocene Than in the Holocene?. PLoS ONE, 2(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000614
- December 18, 2008
- 05:12 PM
- 977 views
Evolution and conservation in Mexican dry forests
by Ian Ramjohn in Further Thoughts
Bursera simaruba has always been one of my favourite tree species. It’s a dry-season deciduous tree with compound leaves and a coppery peeling outer bark and a green (presumably photosynthetic) inner bark. It’s a conspicuous element of tropical dry forests in Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and parts of southern Florida (where they call it [...]... Read more »
Judith X. Becerra, & D. Lawrence Venable. (2008) Sources and Sinks of Diversification and Conservation Priorities for the Mexican Tropical Dry Forest. PLoS ONE, 3(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003436
- December 18, 2008
- 04:30 PM
- 2,112 views
Austroraptor cabazai: They Just Don't Make Big Scary Dinosaurs Like They Once Did
by GrrlScientist in Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
tags: Austroraptor cabazai, dinosaurs, Dromaeosauridae, birds, fossils, taxonomy, evolution
The newly unveiled Austroraptor cabazai (left) attacks a juvenile sauropod dinosaur in an artist's interpretation.
The giant raptor, found in Argentina, measured between 16.5 and 21 feet (5 to 6.5 meters) long, making it one of the largest raptors to roam Earth 70 million years ago, a new study finds.
A dramatic new carnivorous dinosaur that was bigger than a car was unveiled yesterday in public at the........ Read more »
Fernando E. Novas, Diego Pol, Juan I. Canale, Juan D. Porfiri, & Jorge O. Calvo. (2008) A bizarre Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Patagonia and the evolution of Gondwanan dromaeosaurids. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. DOI: http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/90n26424nr722374/fulltext.pdf
- December 18, 2008
- 01:26 PM
- 946 views
A trypanosome and a tsetse walk into a bar…
by moneduloides in Moneduloides
Well, neither the tsetse nor the trypanosome actually “walk” per se… Anyway…
A while back I posted a brief “howsyourmother” on a PLoS ONE article discussing the role of trypanosomes in an extinction event on Easter Island during the late 19th century. As it turns out, in 2007, also in PLoS ONE, an article was published [...]... Read more »
Ewan Thomas Macleod, Alistair Charles Darby, Ian Maudlin, & Sue Christina Welburn. (2007) Factors Affecting Trypanosome Maturation in Tsetse Flies. PLoS ONE, 2(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000239
- December 18, 2008
- 01:05 PM
- 980 views
What’s in a name?
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Polarized CD8 T cell responding to a HSV-infected neuron
Just because something is called a “cytotoxic T lymphocyte” doesn’t mean it’s actually, you know, cytotoxic. And just because something is called a “lytic granule” doesn’t mean it’s actually lytic.
I’ve posted earlier on the range of functions that CD8 T cells — the so-called “cytotoxic T [...]... Read more »
J. E. Knickelbein, K. M. Khanna, M. B. Yee, C. J. Baty, P. R. Kinchington, & R. L. Hendricks. (2008) Noncytotoxic Lytic Granule-Mediated CD8 T Cell Inhibition of HSV-1 Reactivation from Neuronal Latency. Science, 322(5899), 268-271. DOI: 10.1126/science.1164164
Karen E. Mark, Anna Wald, Amalia S. Magaret, Stacy Selke, Laura Olin, Meei‐Li Huang, & Lawrence Corey. (2008) Rapidly Cleared Episodes of Herpes Simplex Virus Reactivation in Immunocompetent Adults. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 198(8), 1141-1149. DOI: 10.1086/591913
S MIGUELES, C OSBORNE, C ROYCE, A COMPTON, R JOSHI, K WEEKS, J ROOD, A BERKLEY, J SACHA, & N COGLIANOSHUTTA. (2008) Lytic Granule Loading of CD8 T Cells Is Required for HIV-Infected Cell Elimination Associated with Immune Control. Immunity. DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2008.10.010
- December 18, 2008
- 01:01 PM
- 1,826 views
Make sure you get some sleep -- or at least some caffeine -- before that test
by Dave Munger in Cognitive Daily
[This is our synchroblogging post in honor of PLoS ONE's second birthday. Why not write your own?]
Ever wonder whether it's better to study all night before a big exam, or to get a good night's sleep, but maybe not have a chance to go over all the material? We know that memory consolidation can occur in sleep, but we also know that those extra hours studying can do some good. And then there's the issue of false memories: who hasn't had the experience of being completely convinced their test ans........ Read more »
Susanne Diekelmann, Hans-Peter Landolt, Olaf Lahl, Jan Born, & Ullrich Wagner. (2008) Sleep Loss Produces False Memories. PLoS ONE, 3(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003512
- December 18, 2008
- 12:06 PM
- 739 views
Can You Reread My Mind?
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
PLoS ONE @ TwoOriginally posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008. On the corner of main streetJust tryin' to keep it in lineYou say you wanna move on andinstead of falling behindCan you read my mind?Can you read my mind?Read My Mind ------The KillersEarlier this year, a study in PLoS One (Shinkareva et al., 2008) received some wildly overblown coverage in the media:Scientists can read your mind... sort ofTHOUGHTS are successfully being read for the first time by scientists using nothing but a mod........ Read more »
Svetlana V. Shinkareva, Robert A. Mason, Vicente L. Malave, Wei Wang, Tom M. Mitchell, & Marcel Adam Just. (2008) Using fMRI Brain Activation to Identify Cognitive States Associated with Perception of Tools and Dwellings. PLoS ONE, 3(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001394
- December 18, 2008
- 11:59 AM
- 1,364 views
Children giving orders to Mom and Dad
by gameswithwords in Games with Words
During the last month, I have been studying requests. Requests are interesting because there are many ways of making them, including commands ("Give me that"), requests ("Please give me that"), indirect requests ("Could you give me that?"), and hints ("Wouldn't it be nice if I had one of those?").I just ran across a description of a fairly old line of research that is worth quoting directly:Studies of role playing (Andersen (1978, 1989), Corsaro (1985), Mitchell-Kernan and Kernan (1977) have mad........ Read more »
Ervin-Tripp, S, Guo, J., & Lampert, M. (1990) Politeness and persuasion in children’s control acts. Journal of Pragmatics, 307-331.
- December 18, 2008
- 10:56 AM
- 1,894 views
How to make an elephant turn invisible
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
Dear reader, I know I promised you snakes in this particular post, but but before I get to the snakes, I have to make a digression to mention the elephants. The elephants in the Upper Semliki River Valley in the Eastern Congo at the time our expedition (late 1980s) are especially interesting because at the time it was believed that no elephants lived there. Yet, as part of my research, I discovered that this was inaccurate. A herd of invisible elephants roamed the park. I told almost no one ........ Read more »
Tarryne Burke, Bruce Page, Gus Van Dyk, Josh Millspaugh, & Rob Slotow. (2008) Risk and Ethical Concerns of Hunting Male Elephant: Behavioural and Physiological Assays of the Remaining Elephants. PLoS ONE, 3(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002417
Stephen Blake, Sharon L. Deem, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels, Ludovic Momont, Inogwabini-Bila Isia, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, William B. Karesh, & Michael D. Kock. (2008) Roadless Wilderness Area Determines Forest Elephant Movements in the Congo Basin. PLoS ONE, 3(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003546
Bindi Thomas, John D. Holland, & Edward O. Minot. (2008) Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Home Ranges in Sabi Sand Reserve and Kruger National Park: A Five-Year Satellite Tracking Study. PLoS ONE, 3(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003902
Leigh-Ann Woolley, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Rami J. Woods, Samantha Janse van Rensburg, Robin L. Mackey, Bruce Page, & Rob Slotow. (2008) Population and Individual Elephant Response to a Catastrophic Fire in Pilanesberg National Park. PLoS ONE, 3(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003233
- December 18, 2008
- 10:49 AM
- 1,157 views
Model for the Peptide-Free Conformation of Class II MHC Proteins
by Nir London in Macromolecular Modeling Blog
Although numerous structures of peptide bound MHC-II molecules were solved, no one knows how does the peptide free MHC look like. Painter et al. elegantly use molecular dynamics to model the conformational changes upon peptide removal. Most interestingly a helix from the peptide binding domain adopts the binding mode of the antigen peptide. They successfully validate their model using antibodies and superantigens, predicted to differentially bind peptide-bound/free molecules according to their m........ Read more »
Corrie A. Painter, Anthony Cruz, Gustavo E. López, Lawrence J. Stern, & Zarixia Zavala-Ruiz. (2008) Model for the Peptide-Free Conformation of Class II MHC Proteins. PLoS ONE, 3(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002403
- December 18, 2008
- 09:04 AM
- 1,174 views
Gingko Study Proves Nothing
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Don't get rid of your Ginkgo supplements until you read this article.... Read more »
S. T. DeKosky, J. D. Williamson, A. L. Fitzpatrick, R. A. Kronmal, D. G. Ives, J. A. Saxton, O. L. Lopez, G. Burke, M. C. Carlson, L. P. Fried.... (2008) Ginkgo biloba for Prevention of Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(19), 2253-2262. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2008.683
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