- March 12, 2010
- 01:28 PM
- 4 views
Sleep Disorders Are No Laughing Matter
by Deborah Serani, Psy.D. in Dr. Deb
March 7 thru the 13th is Sleep Awareness Week. Good sleep is important for physical health. As for emotional health, studies suggest that the presentation of mental health difficulties is often accompanied by sleep disturbances.
... Read more »
Lee, M., Choh, A., Demerath, E., Knutson, K., Duren, D., Sherwood, R., Sun, S., Chumlea, W., Towne, B., Siervogel, R.... (2009) Sleep disturbance in relation to health-related quality of life in adults: The fels longitudinal study. The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 13(6), 576-583. DOI: 10.1007/s12603-009-0110-1
- March 12, 2010
- 12:05 PM
- 5 views
Google Adds Cycling Routes to Their Maps!
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Regular readers of Obesity Panacea will know that I am a huge fan of active transportation (e.g. walking or cycling to work, rather than commuting by vehicle). I just can't say enough good things about it. It often takes about the same amount of time as commuting by vehicle, plus it ensures that you're getting at least some physical activity on even the busiest days. Even just taking transit instead of driving yourself increases your chances of meeting the daily physical activity gu........ Read more »
Wilkinson, P., Smith, K., Davies, M., Adair, H., Armstrong, B., Barrett, M., Bruce, N., Haines, A., Hamilton, I., & Oreszczyn, T. (2009) Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: household energy. The Lancet, 374(9705), 1917-1929. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61713-X
- March 12, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 19 views
The (empirical) rule of 8%
by Pablo Artal in Optics confidential
Some advice on how to deal with students and postdocs...... Read more »
Perez, G., Archer, S., & Artal, P. (2009) Optical Characterization of Bangerter Foils. Investigative Ophthalmology , 51(1), 609-613. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.09-3726
- March 12, 2010
- 11:22 AM
- 6 views
Your Friday Dose of Weird: Two new Cambrian critters
When it comes to aliens, Hollywood really does not have much imagination. Most extraterrestrials that have appeared on the big screen look very much like us, or are at least some kind of four-to-six-limbed vertebrate, and this says more about out own vanity than anything else. It would be far more interesting, I think, to take the weird and wonderful organisms of the Cambrian as inspiration for alien life forms, and two new critters have just been added to the odd Cambrian menagerie. Read the ........ Read more »
Caron, J., Conway Morris, S., & Shu, D. (2010) Tentaculate Fossils from the Cambrian of Canada (British Columbia) and China (Yunnan) Interpreted as Primitive Deuterostomes. PLoS ONE, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009586
STEIN, M. (2010) A new arthropod from the Early Cambrian of North Greenland, with a ‘great appendage’-like antennula. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 158(3), 477-500. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00562.x
- March 12, 2010
- 10:30 AM
- 8 views
Incisivosaurus, a Dinosaur With an Overbite
by Brian Switek in Dinosaur Tracking
Over and over again the same dinosaurs show up in the news: Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Apatosaurus, Velociraptor, etc., etc., etc. Movies, books and television have made them into superstars, but we should not forget that these dinosaurs represent only a small part of the range of dinosaur diversity. There are many kinds of dinosaurs many people [...]... Read more »
Xu, X., Cheng, Y., Wang, X., & Chang, C. (2002) An unusual oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from China. Nature, 419(6904), 291-293. DOI: 10.1038/nature00966
- March 12, 2010
- 09:50 AM
- 11 views
Obstinately Overprotecting Odin
by Katie Hill in Promega Connections
I woke up this morning and worried about my 2 year-old son, Odin. Is he eating enough leafy greens? Is he socializing well with others? Is this demanding and snarky attitude he is newly exhibiting a permanent part of his personality? Will ramming his head into the table while playing soccer in the house prevent [...]... Read more »
Narita, K., Takei, Y., Suda, M., Aoyama, Y., Uehara, T., Kosaka, H., Amanuma, M., Fukuda, M., & Mikuni, M. (2010) Relationship of parental bonding styles with gray matter volume of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in young adults. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.02.025
- March 12, 2010
- 08:32 AM
- 11 views
It’s not easy to make the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus a killer
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
The second RNA segment of some influenza virus strains encodes a protein called PB1-F2 that might contribute to virulence. Speaking about the 2009 pandemic H1N1 strain, Peter Palese noted that “If this virulence marker is necessary for an influenza virus to become highly pathogenic in humans or in chickens, then the current swine virus doesn’t [...]... Read more »
Hai, R., Schmolke, M., Varga, Z., Manicassamy, B., Wang, T., Belser, J., Pearce, M., Garcia-Sastre, A., Tumpey, T., & Palese, P. (2010) PB1-F2 expression by the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus has minimal impact on virulence in animal models. Journal of Virology. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02717-09
- March 12, 2010
- 07:51 AM
- 18 views
Wired for Music
by Kevin Mitchell in Wiring the Brain
Music has a bizarre power to engage and affect us – to move us emotionally or literally, whether it’s foot-tapping, finger-drumming or booty-shaking. It seems to have properties that make it automatically and powerfully salient for human beings. An obvious question is whether this reflects some innate properties of the human brain or whether it emerges over time due to experience with types of music. Put another way, does the brain shape the music or the other way around?........ Read more »
Perani, D., Saccuman, M., Scifo, P., Spada, D., Andreolli, G., Rovelli, R., Baldoli, C., & Koelsch, S. (2010) Functional specializations for music processing in the human newborn brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(10), 4758-4763. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909074107
Sun, T. (2005) Early Asymmetry of Gene Transcription in Embryonic Human Left and Right Cerebral Cortex. Science, 308(5729), 1794-1798. DOI: 10.1126/science.1110324
- March 12, 2010
- 07:00 AM
- 14 views
Deep Brain Stimulation – A New Frontier in Psychiatry
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
For as long as the brain has been seen as the site of mental activity, it has followed that altering brain function should be implemented to treat mental illness. Second generation antidepressants and psychotherapy are currently the least invasive ways of affecting brain function but they leave too many patients only partially improved, and have [...]... Read more »
Lakhan, S., & Callaway, E. (2010) Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder and treatment-resistant depression: systematic review. BMC Research Notes, 3(1), 60. DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-3-60
- March 12, 2010
- 06:22 AM
- 12 views
Can the Theory of Planned Behavior Predict the Maintenance of Physical Activity?
by Armitage, C. in Exercise Psychology
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has been applied to many areas of research in physical activity with varying degrees of success I would argue. This paper looks at the ability of TPB to predict participation in physical activity and explored the development of activity habits in a 12-week study. Gym members completed standard theory of planned behavior measures at baseline and follow-up. The author argues that the results showed that perceived behavioralcontrol was significantly predictive........ Read more »
Armitage, C. (2005) Can the Theory of Planned Behavior Predict the Maintenance of Physical Activity?. Health Psychology, 24(3), 235-245. DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.3.235
- March 12, 2010
- 06:14 AM
- 8 views
Yellow fever, stasis, and diversification
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
“Episode de la fièvre jaune”
By analyzing hepatitis C virus genome sequences, you can trace the virus’s history through its spread by the slave trade, and linked 19th-century health models in different countries to viral spread and transmission. Similarly, by looking at leprosy DNA, you can track its spread along the Silk Road and along [...]... Read more »
Bryant, J., Holmes, E., & Barrett, A. (2007) Out of Africa: A Molecular Perspective on the Introduction of Yellow Fever Virus into the Americas. PLoS Pathogens, 3(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.0030075
Barrett, A., & Higgs, S. (2007) Yellow Fever: A Disease that Has Yet to be Conquered. Annual Review of Entomology, 52(1), 209-229. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091454
Sall, A., Faye, O., Diallo, M., Firth, C., Kitchen, A., & Holmes, E. (2009) Yellow Fever Virus Exhibits Slower Evolutionary Dynamics than Dengue Virus. Journal of Virology, 84(2), 765-772. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01738-09
- March 12, 2010
- 06:00 AM
- 8 views
The challenge of managing disease in wildlife: the case of elk in Yellowstone
by Rob Goldstein in Conservation Maven
The disease brucellosis is surging in free-ranging elk populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem according to a new study in the journal Ecological Applications.
Furthermore, efforts to address the problem by reducing the density of elk populations through increased hunting or introduction of natural predators will be difficult given the matrix of private and public lands where elk aggregate.... Read more »
Cross, P., Cole, E., Dobson, A., Edwards, W., Hamlin, K., Luikart, G., Middleton, A., Scurlock, B., & White, P. (2010) Probable causes of increasing brucellosis in free-ranging elk of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Ecological Applications, 20(1), 278-288. DOI: 10.1890/08-2062.1
- March 12, 2010
- 05:13 AM
- 6 views
The Green Evolution that preceded the Green Revolution
by Jeremy in Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
The standard litany against the Green Revolution is that it failed to banish hunger because the technologies it ushered in were no use to small peasant farmers. Farmers with access to cash and good land did well, but poorer farmers on marginal land got nothing out of the revolution, and if they did somehow [...]... Read more »
Harwood, J. (2009) Peasant Friendly Plant Breeding and the Early Years of the Green Revolution in Mexico. Agricultural History, 83(3), 384-410. DOI: 10.3098/ah.2009.83.3.384
- March 12, 2010
- 03:36 AM
- 13 views
Reminder of disease primes the body and mind to repel other people
by Christian Jarrett in BPS Research Digest
When it comes to avoiding infection, a growing body of evidence suggests we don't just have a physiological immune system, we also have a behavioural immune system - one that alerts us to people likely to be carrying disease, and that puts us off interacting with them. Indeed, there's research showing that people who are more fearful of disease tend to hold more xenophobic attitudes and to display greater prejudice towards people with outwardly visible disabilities. Now Chad Mortensen and his co........ Read more »
Mortensen, C., Becker, D., Ackerman, J., Neuberg, S., & Kenrick, D. (2010) Infection Breeds Reticence: The Effects of Disease Salience on Self-Perceptions of Personality and Behavioral Avoidance Tendencies. Psychological Science, 21(3), 440-447. DOI: 10.1177/0956797610361706
- March 12, 2010
- 03:35 AM
- 21 views
Friston is Freudian
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Professor Karl Friston is one of the most prominent (and prolific) researchers in the field of neuroimaging. His contributions to methodological development in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are immense:He invented statistical parametric mapping; SPM is an international standard for analysing imaging data and rests on the general linear model and random field theory (developed with Keith Worsley). In 1994, his group developed voxel-based morphometry. VBM detects differences in n........ Read more »
Carhart-Harris, R., & Friston, K. (2010) The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awq010
- March 12, 2010
- 03:01 AM
- 12 views
Galaxies are slowly running out of gas
by Charles Daney in Science and Reason
Galaxies are made of stars, and stars are made of... gas. So a large part of understanding how galaxies evolve and grow is understanding how much "gas" (literally, not "gasoline") is present in galaxies – but has not yet been incorporated in stars – at different periods in the history of the universe.What periods of the universe are most interesting in this regard? The answer is: periods somewhat less than the first half of the universe's existence since the time of the big bang, rou........ Read more »
Tacconi, L., Genzel, R., Neri, R., Cox, P., Cooper, M., Shapiro, K., Bolatto, A., Bouché, N., Bournaud, F., Burkert, A.... (2010) High molecular gas fractions in normal massive star-forming galaxies in the young Universe. Nature, 463(7282), 781-784. DOI: 10.1038/nature08773
- March 12, 2010
- 12:46 AM
- 26 views
Friday Weird Science: Ejaculation 1, 2, 3...
by Evil Monkey in Neurotopia
Well well well. Here we are. It's Friday. And we've been talking about SPERM ALL WEEK.
What to do...what to do...
Nel-Themaat et al. "Quality and freezing qualities of first and second ejaculates collected from endangered Gulf Coast Native rams" Animal Reproduction Science, 2006.
Heh.
So it turns out that the people who wrote the study Sci covered the other week wrote ANOTHER one. Also, it turns out the eland is not endangered, but the other species they were working with, the Gulf Co........ Read more »
NELTHEMAAT, L., HARDING, G., CHANDLER, J., CHENEVERT, J., DAMIANI, P., FERNANDEZ, J., HUMES, P., POPE, C., & GODKE, R. (2006) Quality and freezing qualities of first and second ejaculates collected from endangered Gulf Coast Native rams. Animal Reproduction Science, 95(3-4), 251-261. DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2005.09.014
- March 11, 2010
- 10:18 PM
- 37 views
You know your ‘type’? It’s stress dependent…
by aimee in misc.ience
A number of interesting revelations to be had here, and all to do with our choices of ‘mate’.
And by mate, I don’t mean the antipodean colloquialism meaning ‘friend’. Nope, I mean mate as in, you know, someone you want to shag. As it were.
The first revelation in this paper* is that, for the most part, [...]
[Click on the hyperlinked headline for more of the goodness]... Read more »
Lass-Hennemann, J., Deuter, C., Kuehl, L., Schulz, A., Blumenthal, T., & Schachinger, H. (2010) Effects of stress on human mating preferences: stressed individuals prefer dissimilar mates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0258
- March 11, 2010
- 09:43 PM
- 27 views
The Conservative View of Progress in Applied Cancer Research
by Reason in Fight Aging!
Via FuturePundit, I see that a recent open access paper outlines the results of applied cancer research over the past four decades. Declining Death Rates Reflect Progress against Cancer The success of the "war on cancer" initiated in 1971 continues to be debated, with trends in cancer mortality variably presented as evidence of progress or failure. We examined temporal trends in death rates from all-cancer and the 19 most common cancers in the United States from 1970-2006. ... Progress in reduci........ Read more »
Jemal, A., Ward, E., & Thun, M. (2010) Declining Death Rates Reflect Progress against Cancer. PLoS ONE, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009584
- March 11, 2010
- 09:16 PM
- 24 views
Neury Thursday: Neural Evidence For Why I Can't Remember the Lyrice to my Favorite Rap Songs
by Allison in Dormivigilia
Neuroscientists have uncovered differential encoding of a tune and its lyrics within the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus. ... Read more »
Sammler, D., Baird, A., Valabregue, R., Clement, S., Dupont, S., Belin, P., & Samson, S. (2010) The Relationship of Lyrics and Tunes in the Processing of Unfamiliar Songs: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Adaptation Study. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(10), 3572-3578. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2751-09.2010
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