All posts from Last Month
- May 23, 2013
- 06:01 PM
- 25 views
Beta Decay and Neutrinos over Cocktails
by Hamilton Carter in Copasetic Flow
This was going to be so much longer and more detailed, but as you may or may not be aware, seven month olds occasionally decide of their own volition to pull all nighters, (much like grad students). So, I leave you with a few somewhat less than scattered thoughts, and an incredible video on the topic of neutrinos. After yesterday's post on the possibility of the variation of radioactive decay rates with neutrino activity from the sun, I spent my free time today reading about beta decay and........ Read more »
Cowan C. L., Reines F., Harrison F. B., Kruse H. W., & McGuire A. D. (1956) Detection of the Free Neutrino: a Confirmation. Science, 124(3212), 103-104. DOI: 10.1126/science.124.3212.103
Reines F. (1979) The Early Days of Experimental Neutrino Physics. Science, 203(4375), 11-16. DOI: 10.1126/science.203.4375.11
- May 23, 2013
- 05:00 PM
- 51 views
The ‘actuator lugs’ on the Newton Running Shoes
by Craig Payne in Running Research Junkie
The ‘actuator lugs’ on the Newton Running Shoes... Read more »
Moran, M., & Greer, B. (2013) Influence of midsole ‘actuator lugs’ on running economy in trained distance runners. Footwear Science, 5(2), 91-99. DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2013.792878
- May 23, 2013
- 04:24 PM
- 319 views
All lobsters are mortal
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
This appeared earlier today on the Facebook feed I Fucking Love Science:
Argh!
I remember seeing a shark documentary as a kid, hosted by Burgess Meredith, if I remember correctly. It made the same basic claim about great white sharks: too big to have predators, nobody had ever seen them die except by accident or by human hands, blah blah blah, therefore “some have suggested” they are immortal.
That I can remember the end of the show all these years later shows you what a terrific close........ Read more »
Bodnar A.G. (2009) Marine invertebrates as models for aging research. Experimental Gerontology, 44(8), 477-484. DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2009.05.001
Klapper Wolfram, Kühne Karen, Singh Kumud K, Heidorn Klaus, Parwaresch Reza, & Krupp Guido. (1998) Longevity of lobsters is linked to ubiquitous telomerase expression. FEBS Letters, 439(1-2), 143-146. DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(98)01357-X
- May 23, 2013
- 03:58 PM
- 1 view
Cryptococcus gattii Gone Wild on World Tour
by Kausik Datta in In Scientio Veritas
By now you know, dear readers, that Cryptococcus gattii (CG), the deadly fungal pathogen and a native of tropical and subtropical regions of the world, has stealthily charted itself a course of world domination, starting with the Pacific Northwest of North America. I have also alerted you to the possibilities about its transmission - (a) that CG may have spread as a result of human activity, human and avian migration, and other natural means of dispersal; and (b) that slow,... Read more... Read more »
Springer, D., & Chaturvedi, V. (2010) Projecting Global Occurrence of Cryptococcus gattii . Emerging Infectious Diseases, 16(1), 14-20. DOI: 10.3201/eid1601.090369
Cogliati, M. (2013) Global Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii: An Atlas of the Molecular Types. Scientifica, 1-23. DOI: 10.1155/2013/675213
- May 23, 2013
- 03:37 PM
- 59 views
Researchers Turn a Smartphone into a Biosensor
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone’s built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses and other molecules. Having such sensitive biosensing capabilities in the field could enable on-the-spot tracking of groundwater contamination, combine the phone’s GPS … Read More →... Read more »
Gallegos, D., Long, K., Yu, H., Clark, P., Lin, Y., George, S., Nath, P., & Cunningham, B. (2013) Label-free biodetection using a smartphone. Lab on a Chip, 13(11), 2124. DOI: 10.1039/C3LC40991K
- May 23, 2013
- 01:01 PM
- 59 views
Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Whether we’re listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. For instance, Mozart’s jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is more apt to be associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.... Read more »
Yasmin Anwar. (2013) Bach to the blues, our emotions match music to colors. UC Berkeley News Center. info:/
- May 23, 2013
- 01:00 PM
- 49 views
Microbial Misadventures: Exploits in Botulism & Pruno In Our Prison Population
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Drinking pruno is a risky endeavor, both in terms of its offense to culinary sensibilities and to one's health. However, turned stomachs are not the only hazard here; you may add a desire to avoid botulism to your list of reasons to shy away from you'r mates latest batch of prison hooch. The soil-dwelling bacterium Clostridium botulinum can contaminate fruits and veggies, and, in warm, oxygen-deprived conditions, produces the neuroparalytic toxin botulinum. Even more wholesome DIY ende........ Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2013) Notes from the field: botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol - Arizona, 2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 62(5), 88. PMID: 23388552
- May 23, 2013
- 12:44 PM
- 48 views
If you chew that mRNA, you must make a new one!
by Gal Haimovich in Green Fluorescent Blog
Gene expression is very complex. My paper, which was published in Cell today, just shows that it is more complicated than previously realized. Traditionally, eukaryotic gene expression is divided into five steps: Transcription (mRNA synthesis): this step is subdivided into … Continue reading →... Read more »
Haimovich, G., Medina, D., Causse, S., Garber, M., Millán-Zambrano, G., Barkai, O., Chávez, S., Pérez-Ortín, J., Darzacq, X., & Choder, M. (2013) Gene Expression Is Circular: Factors for mRNA Degradation Also Foster mRNA Synthesis. Cell, 153(5), 1000-1011. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.012
Haimovich G, Choder M, Singer RH, & Trcek T. (2013) The fate of the messenger is pre-determined: A new model for regulation of gene expression. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1829(6-7), 643-53. PMID: 23337853
- May 23, 2013
- 12:00 PM
- 51 views
Very beautiful findings related to Down syndrome
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Researchers, in 2011, reported that the parents, siblings and even the people with Down syndrome reported positive experiences about their life and relations.
Published in:
American Journal of Medical Genetics
Study Further:
Down syndrome refers to the condition in which the extra genetic material in the body causes the slow development of the child, mentally and physically. It affects 1 in every 800 babies born in United States.
Researchers, in three different stud........ Read more »
Skotko, B., Levine, S., & Goldstein, R. (2011) Having a son or daughter with Down syndrome: Perspectives from mothers and fathers. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 155(10), 2335-2347. DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.34293
Skotko, B., Levine, S., & Goldstein, R. (2011) Having a brother or sister with Down syndrome: Perspectives from siblings. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 155(10), 2348-2359. DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.34228
Skotko, B., Levine, S., & Goldstein, R. (2011) Self-perceptions from people with Down syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 155(10), 2360-2369. DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.34235
- May 23, 2013
- 11:58 AM
- 58 views
New Method for Clean and Safe Hydrogen Production Proposed
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
Duke University engineers have developed a new safer method for catalytic hydrogen production. According to the authors of the study, it does not require high temperatures and produces smaller amounts of toxic chemicals than other industrial hydrogen production technologies.... Read more »
Shodiya, T., Schmidt, O., Peng, W., & Hotz, N. (2013) Novel nano-scale Au/α-Fe2O3 catalyst for the preferential oxidation of CO in biofuel reformate gas. Journal of Catalysis, 63-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcat.2012.12.027
- May 23, 2013
- 09:21 AM
- 83 views
Should you worry about vitamin D deficiency? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Since my last blog post, where I shared my thoughts on BRCA1, BRCA2, and preventive mastectomies, I've been asked what else can a woman do to reduce her risk of breast cancer. I've heard a big deal about vitamin D, so I did a bit of research on the matter. As a disclaimer, I should tell you up front that, though many correlations between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk have been found, just as many have been refuted or found inconclusive. You can read more about it on the wikipedia page.Wha........ Read more »
Crew, K. (2013) Vitamin D: Are We Ready to Supplement for Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment?. ISRN Oncology, 1-22. DOI: 10.1155/2013/483687
- May 23, 2013
- 09:14 AM
- 70 views
New Reliable Blood Test Can Detect Depression
by Pieter Carriere in United Academics
Depression or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has multiple genetic and environmental causes. Genetic factors are hard to find and the discovered factors usually are also associated with other mood disorders. Furthermore, twin studies reveal that genetics can predict 37% of the depressions, which is a much lower heritability than in bipolar disorder, a comparable mood disorder (reviewed in Belmaker et al., 2008). ... Read more »
Papakostas, G., Shelton, R., Kinrys, G., Henry, M., Bakow, B., Lipkin, S., Pi, B., Thurmond, L., & Bilello, J. (2011) Assessment of a multi-assay, serum-based biological diagnostic test for major depressive disorder: a Pilot and Replication Study. Molecular Psychiatry, 18(3), 332-339. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.166
Pariante, C., & Lightman, S. (2008) The HPA axis in major depression: classical theories and new developments. Trends in Neurosciences, 31(9), 464-468. DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2008.06.006
Raison, C. (2012) A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonist Infliximab for Treatment-Resistant DepressionThe Role of Baseline Inflammatory BiomarkersInfliximab for Treatment-Resistant Depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1. DOI: 10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.4
Nibuya M, Morinobu S, & Duman RS. (1995) Regulation of BDNF and trkB mRNA in rat brain by chronic electroconvulsive seizure and antidepressant drug treatments. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 15(11), 7539-47. PMID: 7472505
- May 23, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 40 views
It’s great to be a woman scientist; it’s challenging to be a woman scientist
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
I recently volunteered to help organise an event run by the Canadian Science Policy Centre that looked at the status of women in science and technology. To be frank, I was mightily fearful about participating in such an event. I … Continue reading →... Read more »
Wenneras C, & Wold A. (1997) Nepotism and sexism in peer-review. Nature, 387(6631), 341-3. PMID: 9163412
- May 23, 2013
- 08:24 AM
- 54 views
Fragile mega-galaxy is missing link in history of cosmos
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Two hungry young galaxies that collided 11 billion years ago are rapidly forming a massive galaxy about 10 times the size of the Milky Way, according to UC Irvine-led research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.... Read more »
UC Irvine Media Realease. (2013) Fragile mega-galaxy is missing link in history of cosmos. UC Irvine. info:/
- May 23, 2013
- 07:34 AM
- 55 views
Smelling Lemons Might Better Treat Autism
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
classical music and intense sensory exercises produced improvements in autism symptoms in children after just six months, scientists have found.... Read more »
Woo, C., & Leon, M. (2013) Environmental Enrichment as an Effective Treatment for Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Behavioral Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1037/a0033010
- May 23, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 19 views
A Whiff of Taxonomy – The Phylum Elusimicrobia
by Moselio Schaechter in Small Things Considered
If you happen to look, you’ll find that new bacterial phyla spring up with amazing frequency, and that taxonomic names and facts accumulate at a staggering rate. As a public service, we’ll try from time to time to nibble away at this huge salami, slicing off and serving up one unfamiliar phylum at a time. Today it’s the turn of the Elusimicrobia. I admit that I chose them on account of their name. What could be more enticing than an elusive living being? (BTW, the name is derived from the........ Read more »
Herlemann, D., Geissinger, O., & Brune, A. (2007) The Termite Group I Phylum Is Highly Diverse and Widespread in the Environment. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73(20), 6682-6685. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00712-07
- May 23, 2013
- 04:37 AM
- 205 views
The mindbus technique for resisting chocolate - should we climb aboard?
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
Imagine you are the driver & your chocolate cravings are unruly passengers
If someone gave you a bag of 14 chocolates to carry around for five days, would you be able to resist eating them and any other chocolate? That was challenge faced by 135 undergrads in a new study that compared the effectiveness of two different "mindfulness" resistance techniques.
To help them, Kim Jenkins and Katy Tapper taught 45 of their participants "cognitive diffusion", the essence being that "you are not y........ Read more »
Jenkins, K., & Tapper, K. (2013) Resisting chocolate temptation using a brief mindfulness strategy. British Journal of Health Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12050
- May 23, 2013
- 04:33 AM
- 54 views
Big data for autism and the promise of newborn bloodspots
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
An episode of the BBC program Horizon on 'Big Data' recently caught my attention. The content was a fascinating insight into how we are living in a data-rich age and how trawling/mining/dredging such data has the ability to advance medicine, predict crime and even make someone a few quid/dollars/euros on the stock market.Gone (data) fishing @ Wikipedia I'm a big believer in big data. In particular how, with the right sources, technology, techniques and people, big data might be able t........ Read more »
Mizejewski GJ, Lindau-Shepard B, & Pass KA. (2013) Newborn screening for autism: in search of candidate biomarkers. Biomarkers in medicine, 7(2), 247-60. PMID: 23547820
- May 23, 2013
- 02:00 AM
- 47 views
Quasi-delusions and inequality aversion
by Artem Kaznatcheev in Evolutionary Games Group
Patient M: It’s impossible —- no one could urinate into that bottle -— at least no woman could. I’m furious with her [these are the patient's emphases] and I’m damned if I am going to do it unless she gives me another kind of bottle. It’s just impossible to use that little thing. Analyst: It […]... Read more »
Fehr, E., & Schmidt, K. (1999) A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(3), 817-868. DOI: 10.1162/003355399556151
- May 23, 2013
- 01:48 AM
- 46 views
What if 501(c)4 Organizations Had to Disclose Their Donors?
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
The IRS kerfuffle has increased interest in the tax code by about 5700%, and one outcome is that people are starting to put the various exemption groups under a microscope. Dylan Matthews has thoughtful piece on 501(c)4 organizations, the groups at the center of the scandal. Matthews thinks the real issue is disclosure, and it’s [...]... Read more »
Dowling, C., & Wichowsky, A. (2013) Does It Matter Who's Behind the Curtain? Anonymity in Political Advertising and the Effects of Campaign Finance Disclosure. American Politics Research. DOI: 10.1177/1532673X13480828
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