All posts from Last Month
- January 31, 2012
- 10:30 PM
- 115 views
Human speech reconstructed from brain waves [video]
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed human speech from an ECoG signal.... Read more »
Pasley, B. David, S. Mesgarani, N. Flinker, A. Shamma, S. Crone, N. Knight, R. Chang, E. (2012) Reconstructing Speech from Human Auditory Cortex. PLoS Biology. DOI: info:/http://www.plosbiology.org/article/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001251
- January 31, 2012
- 09:00 PM
- 82 views
Monogamy Reduces Rape and Murder
by Carian Thus in United Academics
In approximately 85 percent of human societies men were allowed to marry multiple wives. From an evolutionary perspective this seems logic, as many offspring benefits men. Also, with the advent of agriculture and the growing gap between the rich and the poor, polygamy has increased in the past – as traditionally multiple wives are associated with wealth and status.... Read more »
Henrich, J., Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. (2012) The puzzle of monogamous marriage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1589), 657-669. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0290
- January 31, 2012
- 07:00 PM
- 107 views
Drinking Milk Might Be Good for your Brain, Study Says
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
New research at the University of Maine, US, provides a novel field of study: drinking milk, among consuming other dairy products, may benefit our brain health, its authors say.... Read more »
Crichton, G., Elias, M., Dore, G., & Robbins, M. (2012) Relation between dairy food intake and cognitive function: The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. International Dairy Journal, 22(1), 15-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.idairyj.2011.08.001
- January 31, 2012
- 06:55 PM
- 49 views
The fascinating love life of the Dunnock
I watched a Dunnock today, feeding under the garden table, with that characteristic half hopping half walking way Dunnocks have, pecking here and there things too small to be seen at a distance, maybe seeds or small invertebrates. Dunnocks, or Hedge Sparrows (Prunella modularis) are little birds, which live their lives mostly unnoticed amongst the undergrowth and are easily overlooked or taken for House Sparrows. They have a grey chest and head and chestnut backs with dark stripes, a thin b........ Read more »
Davies, N. (1983) Polyandry, cloaca-pecking and sperm competition in dunnocks. Nature, 302(5906), 334-336. DOI: 10.1038/302334a0
Burke, T., Daviest, N., Bruford, M., & Hatchwell, B. (1989) Parental care and mating behaviour of polyandrous dunnocks Prunella modularis related to paternity by DNA fingerprinting. Nature, 338(6212), 249-251. DOI: 10.1038/338249a0
- January 31, 2012
- 06:15 PM
- 143 views
How antipsychotics cause side effects such as obesity and diabetes
by Heather Buschman in Beaker
Sanford-Burnham study suggests that many antipsychotics affect metabolism because they activate the TGFbeta pathway—a finding that could lead to safer therapeutics for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia patients.... Read more »
Cohen, T., Sundaresh, S., & Levine, F. (2012) Antipsychotics activate the TGFβ pathway effector SMAD3. Molecular Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.186
- January 31, 2012
- 06:09 PM
- 104 views
Update on Medivation’s MDV3100 in advanced prostate cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
This weekend heralds the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary (GU) meeting in San Francisco, although ASCO held their press briefing today to provide an update on some of the key topics. For those of you interested in … Continue reading →
... Read more »
Chen CD, Welsbie DS, Tran C, Baek SH, Chen R, Vessella R, Rosenfeld MG, & Sawyers CL. (2004) Molecular determinants of resistance to antiandrogen therapy. Nature medicine, 10(1), 33-9. PMID: 14702632
Carver, B., Chapinski, C., Wongvipat, J., Hieronymus, H., Chen, Y., Chandarlapaty, S., Arora, V., Le, C., Koutcher, J., Scher, H.... (2011) Reciprocal Feedback Regulation of PI3K and Androgen Receptor Signaling in PTEN-Deficient Prostate Cancer. Cancer Cell, 19(5), 575-586. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2011.04.008
- January 31, 2012
- 05:37 PM
- 134 views
The (very little) evolution of chimps
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
Humans are a rather self-centred bunch. From thinking an unimaginably large universe exists to benefit the inhabitants of one speck of it to, well….starting a blog called “EvoAnth.” Within science there is a significant bias towards the investigation of how we got here compared to the origins of most other living animals. As such, we know relatively [...]... Read more »
Hvilsom, C., Qian, Y., Bataillon, T., Li, Y., Mailund, T., Salle, B., Carlsen, F., Li, R., Zheng, H., Jiang, T.... (2012) Extensive X-linked adaptive evolution in central chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1106877109
- January 31, 2012
- 03:08 PM
- 109 views
Who Was Horse Eve?
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Her story doesn't involve any borrowed ribs or knowledge-bestowing apples, but she was the female forbear of all horses alive today. Researchers say the Eve of horses lived about 140,000 years ago. Her family tree contains some revealing gossip about when, and where, horses began their relationship with humans.
To understand the story of Horse Eve, you'll have first convince yourself that any group of living organisms has a most recent common ancestor. Think of yourself and a friend. Unless ........ Read more »
Achilli, A., Olivieri, A., Soares, P., Lancioni, H., Kashani, B., Perego, U., Nergadze, S., Carossa, V., Santagostino, M., Capomaccio, S.... (2012) Mitochondrial genomes from modern horses reveal the major haplogroups that underwent domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1111637109
- January 31, 2012
- 02:25 PM
- 80 views
A few things you (probably) didn't know about weaver ants
by Colin Beale in Safari Ecology
Ants aren't usually the first things people look at when on safari, but they are fascinating beasts when looked at up close. We briefly featured siafu here once before, but that's not enough for a really important group of invertebrates, and it's time to rectify that. Finding I had some nice pictures of Weaver Ants Oecophylla longinoda (right) I thought they might make a good start as they're not only fairly common in some areas (particularly near the coast), but they're pretty interesting........ Read more »
Van Mele, P. (2007) A historical review of research on the weaver ant Oecophylla in biological control. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 2147483647. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2007.00350.x
Lioni, A., & Deneubourg, J. (2004) Collective decision through self-assembling. Naturwissenschaften, 91(5), 237-241. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-004-0519-7
Offenberg, J. (2011) Oecophylla smaragdina food conversion efficiency: prospects for ant farming. Journal of Applied Entomology, 135(8), 575-581. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0418.2010.01588.x
- January 31, 2012
- 01:26 PM
- 101 views
What Your Cable Service Tells Us About the Buffett Rule
by erichorow in peer-reviewed by my neurons
There’s a good amount of research demonstrating the human preference for fairness (even 4th graders are on board), but many of these experiments seem too far removed from real world situations where real money is on the table. The question remains: What are people willing to give up in the name of fairness? A new [...]... Read more »
Wang, Y., & Krishna, A. (2012) Enticing for me but unfair to her: Can targeted pricing evoke socially conscious behavior?. Journal of Consumer Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.004
- January 31, 2012
- 11:20 AM
- 123 views
Reward and Punish: Say Hello to Dopamine’s Leetle Friend
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Dopamine recruits a helper to track drug rewards.
Ah, dopamine. Whenever it seems like researchers have finally gotten a bead on how that tricky molecule modulates pleasure and reward, and the role in plays in the process of drug and alcohol addiction, along come new findings that rearrange its role, deepening and complicating our understanding of brain function.
We know that the ultimate site of dopamine activity caused by drugs is the ventral tegmental area, or VTA, and an associated ........ Read more »
Cohen, J., Haesler, S., Vong, L., Lowell, B., & Uchida, N. (2012) Neuron-type-specific signals for reward and punishment in the ventral tegmental area. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature10754
- January 31, 2012
- 09:07 AM
- 104 views
Exercise Improves Erectile Function
by Carian Thus in United Academics
Previous research pointed out that exercise can help middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction. The goal of the current study was to determine if there is also a connection between increased physical activity and a better sexual function in young, healthy men.... Read more »
Hsiao W, Shrewsberry AB, Moses KA, Johnson TV, Cai AW, Stuhldreher P, Dusseault B, & Ritenour CW. (2011) Exercise is Associated with Better Erectile Function in Men Under 40 as Evaluated by the International Index of Erectile Function. The journal of sexual medicine. PMID: 22145804
- January 31, 2012
- 08:08 AM
- 60 views
On KRAS, NF-kB activation and pancreatic cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Pancreatic cancer as many readers know, is one of those cancers that is generally diagnosed later than most in stage IV and as a result, has a poor prognosis, often only a year or so from diagnosis. It has been … Continue reading →
... Read more »
Ling, J., Kang, Y., Zhao, R., Xia, Q., Lee, D., Chang, Z., Li, J., Peng, B., Fleming, J., Wang, H.... (2012) KrasG12D-Induced IKK2/β/NF-κB Activation by IL-1α and p62 Feedforward Loops Is Required for Development of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Cell, 21(1), 105-120. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2011.12.006
- January 31, 2012
- 07:00 AM
- 21 views
Using Archaeothanatology to Infer Burial Containers
by Katy Meyers in Bones Don't Lie
Archaeothanatology is a lesser known method in mortuary archaeology which is based on using taphonomy to infer unknowns about burial context. As espoused by Duday (2009), the method requires detailed recording during excavation including the identification of skeletal elements in situ, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Harris, N., & Tayles, N. (2012) Burial containers – A hidden aspect of mortuary practices: Archaeothanatology at Ban Non Wat, Thailand. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2012.01.001
- January 31, 2012
- 06:04 AM
- 105 views
Quantum mechanics and stochastic processes: Revised paper posted
by Marco Frasca in The Gauge Connection
After having fixed the definition of the extended Itō integral, I have posted a revised version of my paper on arXiv (see here). The idea has been described here. A full account of this story is given here. The interesting aspect from a physical standpoint is the space that is fluctuating both for a Wiener [...]... Read more »
Marco Frasca. (2012) Quantum mechanics is the square root of a stochastic process. arXiv. arXiv: 1201.5091v2
- January 31, 2012
- 06:00 AM
- 95 views
Correcting presbyopia with corneal inlays: ¿reinventing the wheel or the advantages of simplicity?
by Pablo Artal in Optics confidential
A simple method to correct for presbyopia is evaluated...... Read more »
Tabernero, J., Schwarz, C., Fernandez, E., & Artal, P. (2011) Binocular Visual Simulation of a Corneal Inlay to Increase Depth of Focus. Investigative Ophthalmology , 52(8), 5273-5277. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.10-6436
- January 31, 2012
- 05:36 AM
- 95 views
Neil harbisson, the world's first cyborg.
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
Neil Harbisson, aged 29, considers himself a cyborg. Affected from birth by achromatopsia, he is unable to perceive colours, just black and white. Since 2004, he wears an eyeborg, a device that allows him to recognize colours through sound waves... Read more »
Warwick, K. (2011) Future Issues with Robots and Cyborgs. Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology, 4(3). DOI: 10.2202/1941-6008.1127
- January 31, 2012
- 03:29 AM
- 131 views
Voodoo Neuroscience Revisited
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Two years ago, neuroscientists were shaken by the appearance of a draft paper showing that half of the published work in a particular field had fallen prey to a major statistical error.Originally called "Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience", it ended up with the less snappy name of Puzzlingly high correlations in fMRI studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition. I prefer the old title.The error in question is now known variously as the "circular analysis problem", "non-independe........ Read more »
Vul, E., & Pashler, H. (2012) Voodoo and circularity errors. NeuroImage. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.027
- January 31, 2012
- 12:08 AM
- 74 views
Social Interactions may Influence Inflammation
by Jeffrey B. Driban in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Chiang et al evaluated if daily social interactions among 122 healthy young adults to determine if these interactions relate to systematic concentrations of proinflammatory mediators (measured via oral collection) at rest and after acute stress. Social interactions were classified into 3 categories: negative (e.g., conflict with another person), competitive (e.g., competing for attention, academic competition, games) and positive (e.g., time with friends, support from partner) daily interactions........ Read more »
Chiang, J., Eisenberger, N., Seeman, T., & Taylor, S. (2012) Negative and competitive social interactions are related to heightened proinflammatory cytokine activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1120972109
- January 30, 2012
- 11:57 PM
- 64 views
Taking back Epigenetics
by zacharoo in Lawn Chair Anthropology
If I'm good at anything, it's looking into one topic and then getting distracted by something else during my search. In a recent case, I was scouring the literature on growth and life history. One ribald thing led to another, and next thing I know I've stumbled upon Gunter Wagner's recent review of the book Epigenetics: Linking Genotype and Phenotype in Development and Evolution. WTF is epigenetics, you ask? That's actually a pretty good question (see here). In the past ........ Read more »
Chen, E., Zhang, K., Nicolas, E., Cam, H., Zofall, M., & Grewal, S. (2008) Cell cycle control of centromeric repeat transcription and heterochromatin assembly. Nature, 451(7179), 734-737. DOI: 10.1038/nature06561
Feil, R., & Fraga, M. (2012) Epigenetics and the environment: emerging patterns and implications. Nature Reviews Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/nrg3142
Gilbert, S. (1996) Resynthesizing Evolutionary and Developmental Biology. Developmental Biology, 173(2), 357-372. DOI: 10.1006/dbio.1996.0032
Wagner, G. (2011) Epigenetics in all its beauty. Trends in Ecology . DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2011.09.003
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