All posts from Last Month
- April 23, 2013
- 03:26 AM
- 84 views
Vaccination has nothing to do with the rare Guillain-Barré Nerve Disorder
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main point:
Researchers have found no relation between the vaccination against tetanus, hepatitis, pneumonia or flu and the Guillain-Barré Nerve Disorder.
Journal:
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Study Further:
Guillain-Barré Nerve Disorder is an autoimmune disorder, though rare, in which temporary paralysis occurs. In an autoimmune disorder, person’s own immunity starts working against the protective coating on the nerve fibers. It is usually preceded by a bact........ Read more »
Baxter, R., Bakshi, N., Fireman, B., Lewis, E., Ray, P., Vellozzi, C., & Klein, N. (2013) Lack of Association of Guillain-Barre Syndrome with Vaccinations. Clinical Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1093/cid/cit222
- April 22, 2013
- 09:11 PM
- 93 views
Nature is cool but we have to take care of it
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main point:
Researchers have found that rivers act as the natural “horizontal cooling towers” for thermoelectric power plants but it needs attention to take care of its environment from the artificial disturbing sources.
Journal:
Environmental Research Letters
Study Further:
In thermoelectric power plants, water is boiled to create steam to produce electricity by driving turbines. This raises the temperature and to cut the temperature, water is withdrawn and evaporated........ Read more »
Stewart, R., Wollheim, W., Miara, A., Vörösmarty, C., Fekete, B., Lammers, R., & Rosenzweig, B. (2013) Horizontal cooling towers: riverine ecosystem services and the fate of thermoelectric heat in the contemporary Northeast US. Environmental Research Letters, 8(2), 25010. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/025010
- April 22, 2013
- 08:20 PM
- 79 views
Connecting Form and Function: Serial Block-face EM
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
The retina is a beautiful and wondrous structure, and it has some really weird cells. Retina by Cajal (source)Retinal Ganglion Cells (RGC) have all sorts of differentiating characteristics. Some are directly sensitive to brightness (like rods and cones), while some are sensitive to the specific direction that a bar is traveling. I am discussing really amazing new techniques to see inside cells this month, and have already posted about the magic that is Array Tomography. Today we'll look at anoth........ Read more »
Briggman KL, Helmstaedter M, & Denk W. (2011) Wiring specificity in the direction-selectivity circuit of the retina. Nature, 471(7337), 183-8. PMID: 21390125
- April 22, 2013
- 07:30 PM
- 98 views
Why Hang Them Seperately When We Can Hang Them Together?
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
For those of you lucky enough to not have encountered it, there is a concept known as privilege that floats around in predominately feminist-leaning groups. The basic idea of the concept of privilege is that some groups of people have … Continue reading →... Read more »
DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2013) A solution to the mysteries of morality. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 477-496. DOI: 10.1037/a0029065
Uhlmann, E., Zhu, L., Pizarro, D., & Bloom, P. (2012) Blood is thicker: Moral spillover effects based on kinship. Cognition, 124(2), 239-243. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.04.010
- April 22, 2013
- 07:09 PM
- 52 views
Focus on Manual Skill or Action to Restore Slightly Shredded Soul
by m.c. in begin to dig (b2d)
This is the unexpected story of working to find a path to restore some shredded soul, not through power lifting masses of weights, or sprinting all out till wiped out, but through Sharpening knives, grinding coffee beans - both by hand - making espresso on the stove, latte art - all manual, all small tasks, small skill focus, all about practice of motor learning or just small motor actions as a quest to reduce stress right now.
Often, working out sits in this place, but i feel a little too dr........ Read more »
Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuierer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. (2004) Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427(6972), 311-312. DOI: 10.1038/427311a
Draganski, B. (2006) Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Brain Structure Changes during Extensive Learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(23), 6314-6317. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4628-05.2006
Holzel, B., Carmody, J., Evans, K., Hoge, E., Dusek, J., Morgan, L., Pitman, R., & Lazar, S. (2009) Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11-17. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsp034
- April 22, 2013
- 05:59 PM
- 60 views
Knowledge is Pleasure!: Reliable reward information as a reward itself
by Grace Lindsay in Neurdiness
Pursuing rewards is a crucial part of survival for any species. The circuitry that tells us to seek out pleasure is what ensures that we find food, drink, and mates. In order to engage in this behavior, we must learn associations between rewards and the stimuli that predict them. That way we can know that [...]... Read more »
Bromberg-Martin, E., & Hikosaka, O. (2009) Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Signal Preference for Advance Information about Upcoming Rewards. Neuron, 63(1), 119-126. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.06.009
- April 22, 2013
- 05:24 PM
- 58 views
Let the Light Shine In: Addiction and Optogenetics
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Study says laser light can turn cocaine addiction on and off in rats.
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), had one word for it: “Wow.”
Writing in the director’s blog at the online NIH site, Collins said that a team of researchers from NIH and UC San Francisco had succeeded in delivering “harmless pulses of laser light to the brains of cocaine-addicted rats, blocking their desire for the narcotic.”
Wow, indeed. It didn’t take long for the sc........ Read more »
Chen Billy T., Yau Hau-Jie, Hatch Christina, Kusumoto-Yoshida Ikue, Cho Saemi L., Hopf F. Woodward, & Bonci Antonello. (2013) Rescuing cocaine-induced prefrontal cortex hypoactivity prevents compulsive cocaine seeking. Nature, 496(7445), 359-362. DOI: 10.1038/nature12024
- April 22, 2013
- 04:21 PM
- 90 views
How Dance Illuminates the Mind – The Brain Areas of Dance
by Tony Ingram in BBoy Science
Dancing beautifully integrates complex movement and motor learning, rhythmic musical synchronization, creative emotional expression, and interpersonal communication.
Because of this complexity, studying the neural basis of dance is a challenge - but it may have important implications in rehabilitation and therapy.
So how do we study the neuroscience of dance?... Read more »
Brown S, Martinez MJ, & Parsons LM. (2006) The neural basis of human dance. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 16(8), 1157-67. PMID: 16221923
- April 22, 2013
- 03:51 PM
- 99 views
Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: Hype or Hope?
by Tetyana Pekar in Science of Eating Disorders
When it comes to eating disorder treatment, few (if any) approaches are as divisive as Family-Based Treatment, also known as the Maudsley Method (I’ll use the terms interchangeably) . When I first heard about Maudsley, sometime during my mid-teens, most likely through an ED recovery community on Livejournal, I thought it was scaaary. But as I’ve learned more about it, my opinion changed (although, it does still seem kind-of scary).
As a side-note: I know many peop........ Read more »
Smith, A., & Cook-Cottone, C. (2011) A Review of Family Therapy as an Effective Intervention for Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 18(4), 323-334. DOI: 10.1007/s10880-011-9262-3
- April 22, 2013
- 03:26 PM
- 65 views
The Leiden University Ranking
by Hadas Shema in Information Culture
The new Leiden Ranking (LR) has just been published, and I would like to talk a bit about its indicators, what it represents and equally important – what it doesn’t represent. The LR is a purely bibliometrical ranking, based on data from Thomson-Reuters’ Web of Science database (there’s another bibliometrical ranking, Scimago, but it’s based [...]
... Read more »
Ludo Waltman, Clara Calero-Medina, Joost Kosten, Ed C. M. Noyons, Robert J. W. Tijssen, Nees Jan van Eck, Thed N. van Leeuwen, Anthony F. J. van Raan, Martijn S. Visser, & Paul Wouters. (2012) The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012: Data collection, indicators, and interpretation. ArXiv. arXiv: 1202.3941v1
- April 22, 2013
- 12:43 PM
- 73 views
Using Black Holes to Measure the Universe’s Rate of Expansion
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
A few years ago, researchers revealed that the universe is expanding at a much faster rate than originally believed — a discovery that earned a Nobel Prize in 2011. But measuring the rate of this acceleration over large distances is still challenging and problematic, says Prof. Hagai Netzer of Tel Aviv University’s School of Physics and Astronomy. Now, Prof. … Read More →... Read more »
Wang, J., Du, P., Valls-Gabaud, D., Hu, C., & Netzer, H. (2013) Super-Eddington Accreting Massive Black Holes as Long-Lived Cosmological Standards. Physical Review Letters, 110(8). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.081301
- April 22, 2013
- 12:12 PM
- 85 views
Exercise Boosts Brain Prefrontal Cortex in Children
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Regular aerobic exercise has been associated with enhanced cognition in both children and adults. Most of these types of studies have been cross-sectional in design. Cross-sectional studies do a good job of examining association but do not prove causality. Prospective randomized control trials are better at examining the cause-effect relationship.So an important research question in the exercise-cognition domain is: Can an exercise intervention improve cognition in a prospectiv........ Read more »
Chaddock-Heyman, L., Erickson, K., Voss, M., Knecht, A., Pontifex, M., Castelli, D., Hillman, C., & Kramer, A. (2013) The effects of physical activity on functional MRI activation associated with cognitive control in children: a randomized controlled intervention. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00072
- April 22, 2013
- 11:45 AM
- 9 views
Speak to the Individual, Not the Common
by Persuasion Strategies in Persuasive Litigator
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: Last week in the U.S. Senate, a measure to require universal background checks on gun purchases failed to get the 60 votes needed to survive. The arguments supporting the common good of keeping firearms out of the wrong hands were, to 45 Senators, was not as strong as the individual rights based aversion to new restrictions in any form. Though this decision was out of step with prevailing public opinion (with 86 percent of the public supporting such checks), it was quite c........ Read more »
Hamedani MG, Markus HR, & Fu AS. (2013) In the land of the free, interdependent action undermines motivation. Psychological science, 24(2), 189-96. PMID: 23302297
- April 22, 2013
- 11:18 AM
- 70 views
A Moment in the Sun for Biomimicry
by Whitney Campbell in Green Screen
Already inspired by botany, solar panels imitate photosynthesizing plants with their conversion of the sun's light into usable energy. Through this process, flowers and shrubs seem effortlessly self-sustaining, but designers of solar panels must innovate ways to capture with a cell what plants can innately.... Read more »
Dang, X., Yi, H., Ham, M., Qi, J., Yun, D., Ladewski, R., Strano, M., Hammond, P., & Belcher, A. (2011) Virus-templated self-assembled single-walled carbon nanotubes for highly efficient electron collection in photovoltaic devices. Nature Nanotechnology, 377-384. DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.50
Barr, M., Rowehl, J., Lunt, R., Xu, J., Wang, A., Boyce, C., Im, S., Bulović, V., & Gleason, K. (2011) Direct monolithic integration of organic photovoltaic circuits on unmodified paper. Advanced Materials, 3500-3505. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201101263
Shockley, W., & Queisser, H. (1961) Detailed balance limit of efficiency of p-n junction solar cells. Journal of Applied Physics, 510. DOI: 10.1063/1.1736034
King, R., Law, D., Edmondson, K., Fetzer, C., Kinsey, G., Yoon, H., Sherif, R., & Karam, N. (2007) 40% efficient metamorphic GaInP∕GaInAs∕Ge multijunction solar cells. Applied Physics Letters, 183516. DOI: 10.1063/1.2734507
Krogstrup, P., Jørgensen, H., Heiss, M., Demichel, O., Holm, J., Aagesen, M., Nygard, J., & Fontcuberta i Morral, A. (2013) Single-nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit. Nature Photonics, 306-310. DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.32
- April 22, 2013
- 10:19 AM
- 87 views
New types of immune cells have been found in the skin
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Points:
Researchers have found a new type of immune cells in the skin that works efficiently against parasites such as ticks, mites, and worms. These cells are also thought to be linked to the allergic skin diseases and eczema.
Journal:
Nature Immunology
Study Further:
These newly discovered cells belong to the family of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), which are present in the gut and lungs and found to be linked to asthma.
This is the first time these cells are foun........ Read more »
Roediger, B., Kyle, R., Yip, K., Sumaria, N., Guy, T., Kim, B., Mitchell, A., Tay, S., Jain, R., Forbes-Blom, E.... (2013) Cutaneous immunosurveillance and regulation of inflammation by group 2 innate lymphoid cells. Nature Immunology. DOI: 10.1038/ni.2584
- April 22, 2013
- 08:48 AM
- 80 views
Lamb Wins G. Stanley Hall Award
by ebender in Daily Observations
APS James McKeen Cattell Fellow Michael E. Lamb, University of Cambridge, has won the 2014 G. Stanley Hall Award for Distinguished Contribution to Developmental Psychology and the 2013 Award for The post Lamb Wins G. Stanley Hall Award appeared first on Association for Psychological Science.... Read more »
Hershkowitz I, Lamb ME, & Horowitz D. (2007) Victimization of children with disabilities. The American journal of orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 629-35. PMID: 18194043
- April 22, 2013
- 08:33 AM
- 61 views
Human embryonic stem cells restore memory in mice
by beredim in Stem Cells Freak
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) announced today that they have successfully used human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to help a group of mice regain their hindered ability to "learn and remember". The hESCs helped the mice by forming new GABA and cholinergic neurons.Read More... Read more »
Liu, Y., Weick, J., Liu, H., Krencik, R., Zhang, X., Ma, L., Zhou, G., Ayala, M., & Zhang, S. (2013) Medial ganglionic eminence–like cells derived from human embryonic stem cells correct learning and memory deficits. Nature Biotechnology. DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2565
- April 22, 2013
- 08:04 AM
- 94 views
Cellphone Microbattery That Can Jump-Start a Car Developed
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
New microbatteries developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are only a few millimeters in size, yet they are powerful enough to jump-start a dead car battery.... Read more »
Pikul, J., Gang Zhang, H., Cho, J., Braun, P., & King, W. (2013) High-power lithium ion microbatteries from interdigitated three-dimensional bicontinuous nanoporous electrodes. Nature Communications, 1732. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2747
- April 22, 2013
- 07:49 AM
- 80 views
Frequent Multi-taskers Are Worst At It
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
Calling in the car, listening to the tv while cooking, checking your messages in a meeting: we modern people are all so used to multi-tasking that we actually started thinking we’re good at it. But we’re not, American researchers say.
Why do people multi-task? The first answer at hand would be because people are busy and know from experience that multi-tasking isn’t a problem for them. But this idea doesn’t pass the test of science. It appears that frequent multi-taske........ Read more »
Sanbonmatsu, D., Strayer, D., Medeiros-Ward, N., & Watson, J. (2013) Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-Tasking Ability, Perceived Multi-Tasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking. PLoS ONE, 8(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054402
- April 22, 2013
- 06:56 AM
- 77 views
Deep Rationality: The Evolutionary Economics of Decision Making
by Jason Collins in Evolving Economics
Even though I consider that I am across the literature at the boundary of economics and evolutionary biology, now and then an article pops up that I somehow missed. The latest article of this type is a 2009 article by Douglas Kenrick and colleagues, titled (as is this post) Deep Rationality: The Evolutionary Economics of Decision Making. [...]The post Deep Rationality: The Evolutionary Economics of Decision Making appeared first on Evolving Economics.... Read more »
Kenrick, D., Griskevicius, V., Sundie, J., Li, N., Li, Y., & Neuberg, S. (2009) Deep Rationality: The Evolutionary Economics of Decision Making. Social Cognition, 27(5), 764-785. DOI: 10.1521/soco.2009.27.5.764
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