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- May 28, 2013
- 09:36 AM
- 53 views
Sex Hormones vs Body Composition
by Alvin Lin in United Academics
Researchers followed 821 men for close to 5yrs after initial measurements of hormone status and body composition via dual energy xray absorptiometry were performed. Because no change in body composition was noted over this period of time, they concluded that body composition affects hormone levels but not the other way around. In other words, they claim that the chicken laid the egg.... Read more »
Gates, M., Mekary, R., Chiu, G., Ding, E., Wittert, G., & Araujo, A. (2013) Sex Steroid Hormone Levels and Body Composition in Men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology . DOI: 10.1210/jc.2012-2582
Meikle, A. (2010) Effects of Testosterone on Muscle Strength, Physical Function, Body Composition, and Quality of Life in Intermediate-Frail and Frail Elderly Men: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Yearbook of Endocrinology, 318-319. DOI: 10.1016/S0084-3741(10)79557-3
- May 27, 2013
- 09:08 AM
- 64 views
Study Links IQ to Perception
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
In order to think about what we see, we first need to pick out the relevant stimuli. And since there are endless amounts of stimuli coming at us every second of the day, this is actually a big part of the job. It even predicts our IQ, a new study suggests.... Read more »
Melnick, M., Harrison, B., Park, S., Bennetto, L., & Tadin, D. (2013) A Strong Interactive Link between Sensory Discriminations and Intelligence. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.053
Carson, S., Peterson, J., & Higgins, D. (2003) Decreased Latent Inhibition Is Associated With Increased Creative Achievement in High-Functioning Individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 499-506. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.499
- May 27, 2013
- 07:19 AM
- 89 views
Genetic Modification Makes Better Traditional Tomatoes
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Usually, genetic modification of a food item means a new type of food that has a newly inserted gene. But researchers at the UK’s Norwich BioScience Institutes found that genetic modification can make a better traditionally bred tomato.... Read more »
Zhang, Y., Butelli, E., De Stefano, R., Schoonbeek, H., Magusin, A., Pagliarani, C., Wellner, N., Hill, L., Orzaez, D., Granell, A.... (2013) Anthocyanins Double the Shelf Life of Tomatoes by Delaying Overripening and Reducing Susceptibility to Gray Mold. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.072
- May 26, 2013
- 06:16 AM
- 78 views
How to Best Talk About Sex, Research
by Annemarie van Oosten in United Academics
One of the most important things in sustaining a good relationship, and a sexual relationship for that matter, is good communication. But what exactly is good communication when it comes to sex? How should we talk about sex to our partners?... Read more »
Hess, J., & Coffelt, T. (2012) Verbal Communication about Sex in Marriage: Patterns of Language Use and Its Connection with Relational Outcomes. Journal of Sex Research, 49(6), 603-612. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2011.619282
- May 25, 2013
- 11:40 AM
- 57 views
Get the Science Right: Autism vs Vaccines Flares On
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
The reaction was swift, both times. In 1998, British scientist Andrew Wakefield published a paper in Lancet, showing that vaccines could result in autism. Alarmed parents looked at vaccines with suspicion—many kept their children from being vaccinated, which may have helped spark a measles outbreak or two. Then, in 2010, Lancet retracted the paper, and Wakefield eventually had his medical license revoked. But the controversy continues... Read more »
DeStefano, F., Price, C., & Weintraub, E. (2013) Increasing Exposure to Antibody-Stimulating Proteins and Polysaccharides in Vaccines Is Not Associated with Risk of Autism. The Journal of Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.001
- May 24, 2013
- 09:40 AM
- 71 views
Fluke or Trend? ‘Calcium Causes Heart Disease’
by Alvin Lin in United Academics
Snap! Ouch! That’s from my head doing a double take. All these years, I thought the calcium vs heart disease thing was a conspiracy arranged by one researcher and publication. However, 3 months ago, I stumbled upon some corroborating studies by other researchers in other journals. Even the US Preventive Services Task Force recently came out against low dose calcium (less than 1,000mg/d) in post-menopausal women because they could not find conclusive evidence of benefit in the face of a ........ Read more »
Bolland, M., Grey, A., Avenell, A., Gamble, G., & Reid, I. (2011) Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis. BMJ, 342(apr19 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d2040
Langsetmo, L., Berger, C., Kreiger, N., Kovacs, C., Hanley, D., Jamal, S., Whiting, S., Genest, J., Morin, S., Hodsman, A.... (2013) Calcium and Vitamin D Intake and Mortality: Results from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos). Journal of Clinical Endocrinology . DOI: 10.1210/jc.2013-1516
- May 24, 2013
- 09:20 AM
- 59 views
Potato Famine Sequenced
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
The Irish Famine (or “Great Potato Famine” if you live outside the Emerald Isle) killed one million people and forced another million to leave the country between 1845 and 1852. It was caused by a blight on the country’s main food stock—the Irish “Lumper” potato. Now, researchers have identified the genome of the blight behind the famine.... Read more »
Kentaro Yoshida, Verena J. Schuenemann, Liliana M. Cano, Marina Pais, Bagdevi Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Christa Lanz, Frank N. Martin, Sophien Kamoun, Johannes Krause.... (2013) The rise and fall of the Phytophthora infestans lineage that triggered the Irish potato famine. eLife. arXiv: 1305.4206v1
- May 24, 2013
- 05:26 AM
- 47 views
Specialized Bat Tongue Helps it Drink
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Bats need to eat a lot to keep flying. So, the more efficiently they can take in food, the better. for the nectar-eating bat Glossophaga soricina, this has meant the evolution of a sophisticated tongue. ... Read more »
Harper CJ, Swartz SM, & Brainerd EL. (2013) Specialized bat tongue is a hemodynamic nectar mop. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 23650382
- May 23, 2013
- 09:14 AM
- 71 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
- 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 22, 2013
- 07:07 AM
- 48 views
Study Finds Why Penguins Lost Their Ability to Fly
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
If you’ve seen March of the Penguins, you probably understand the question. Many penguins live a shitty life, walking miles and miles without any food and spending months apart from their families. This would be over with if they just flew from one place to the other. So why did they stop doing that?... Read more »
Elliott, K., Ricklefs, R., Gaston, A., Hatch, S., Speakman, J., & Davoren, G. (2013) High flight costs, but low dive costs, in auks support the biomechanical hypothesis for flightlessness in penguins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1304838110
- May 22, 2013
- 03:18 AM
- 614 views
Science Proves Connection Between Racism and Stupidity
by Simone Munao in United Academics
In a recent research conducted by two scientists from Brock University in Canada, the authors have proposed and tested several mediation models. With such models they have proven that lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice, an effect mediated through the endorsement of right-wing ideologies (social conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism) and low levels of contact with out-groups.... Read more »
Hodson, G., & Busseri, M. (2012) Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes: Lower Cognitive Ability Predicts Greater Prejudice Through Right-Wing Ideology and Low Intergroup Contact. Psychological Science, 23(2), 187-195. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611421206
- May 21, 2013
- 08:53 AM
- 74 views
Bright Lights, Cold Bodies - The Near-Death Experience Explained
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
Last February, Dr. Sam Parnia, an intensive care physician who has been researching near-death experiences for the past 15 years, published his new book ‘Erasing death: The Science That is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death’. Following the release of that book, Dr. Parnia was interviewed on National Public Radio in the US. It wasn’t so much this interview that sparked my interest, as much as the comments that followed. “It’s hard to believe that this gu........ Read more »
van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, & Elfferich I. (2001) Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet, 358(9298), 2039-45. PMID: 11755611
- May 20, 2013
- 09:24 AM
- 59 views
Do We Really Want To Eat Mexican Food?
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
FIFA discoverd that a lot of Mexican meat contains clenbuterol. A drug used to fatten cattle, enhance sportsperfomance, treat people with breathing disorders ánd to lose weight. So watch it with those tacos.... Read more »
Thevis, M., Geyer, L., Geyer, H., Guddat, S., Dvorak, J., Butch, A., Sterk, S., & Schänzer, W. (2013) Adverse analytical findings with clenbuterol among U-17 soccer players attributed to food contamination issues. Drug Testing and Analysis. DOI: 10.1002/dta.1471
- May 19, 2013
- 08:39 AM
- 41 views
Caring for infants is all in the-womans eyes
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Human infants require a lot of care, and our evolution owes a lot of how well, and how long we take, to raise our offspring. So, it’s very important that not only parents pay close attention to their young children, it’s also evolutionary important that extended family members (grandparents, siblings, even friends) can give their attention to another person’s child... Read more »
Cárdenas, R., Harris, L., & Becker, M. (2013) Sex differences in visual attention toward infant faces. Evolution and Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.04.001
- May 16, 2013
- 07:17 AM
- 85 views
To Predict a Bird’s Song, Head Out to Space
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Any given species of bird probably has a variety of different songs. Most bird studies track individual birds in their own habitats, and then make more or less one-by-one comparisons—a bird in a forest will sound different from the same species in a city. An international team has taken these studies one step further—by making a giant leap into space.... Read more »
Smith, T., Harrigan, R., Kirschel, A., Buermann, W., Saatchi, S., Blumstein, D., de Kort, S., & Slabbekoorn, H. (2013) Predicting bird song from space. Evolutionary Applications. DOI: 10.1111/eva.12072
- May 15, 2013
- 09:12 AM
- 56 views
Getting Science Right: Power Cables and Cancer
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
Some people would think twice before buying a house next to high-voltage power line. Wasn’t there something in the news about these wires causing cancer? Indeed many media have elaborately cited people worrying about the risks of electricity. But often without offering a scientific view on the subject.... Read more »
Draper, G. (2005) Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power lines in England and Wales: a case-control study. BMJ, 330(7503), 1290. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.330.7503.1290
- May 14, 2013
- 10:04 AM
- 64 views
Carnivorous Plant Ejects Junk DNA
by Geetanjali Yadav in United Academics
Research shows Utricularia gibba maintains a small genome size by resisting gene duplications.
... Read more »
Ibarra-Laclette, E., Lyons, E., Hernández-Guzmán, G., Pérez-Torres, C., Carretero-Paulet, L., Chang, T., Lan, T., Welch, A., Juárez, M., Simpson, J.... (2013) Architecture and evolution of a minute plant genome. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12132
- May 14, 2013
- 07:12 AM
- 70 views
Turtle genome shows breathing is optional
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Genome of the western painted turtle has developed a remarkable ability to go without oxygen for months. And this genomic change could point to better heart attack and stroke treatments for us.... Read more »
Abramyan, J., Badenhorst, D., Biggar, K., Borchert, G., Botka, C., Bowden, R., Braun, E., Bronikowski, A., Bruneau, B., Buck, L.... (2013) The western painted turtle genome, a model for the evolution of extreme physiological adaptations in a slowly evolving lineage. Genome Biology, 14(3). DOI: 10.1186/gb-2013-14-3-r28
- May 13, 2013
- 09:45 AM
- 62 views
A Quantum Version of Google
by Carian Thus in United Academics
A team of computer scientists in Spain applied a quantum PageRank algorithm to a network with 7 webpages. They found that the quantum PageRank sometimes ordered the webpages differently in terms of importance, but averaging the quantum PageRank score over time recovered the classical ordering.... Read more »
Paparo, G., & Martin-Delgado, M. (2012) Google in a Quantum Network. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep00444
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