All posts from Yesterday
- March 10, 2010
- 11:10 PM
- 7 views
The way the worm wiggles
by sandygautam in The Mouse Trap
Image via Wikipedia
Once in a while you come across a study article that is so elegant and lucid that you have to blog about it. A not-son recent, but new to me article in PLOS computational biology by Stephens et al is just such an awesome and well written article that despite being outside my More >Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Related posts:The 33rd edition of Encephelon online now! the 33rd edition of neuroscience carnival encephalon is now online....
Now I see it, now I ........ Read more »
Stephens, G., Johnson-Kerner, B., Bialek, W., & Ryu, W. (2008) Dimensionality and Dynamics in the Behavior of C. elegans. PLoS Computational Biology, 4(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000028
- March 10, 2010
- 11:08 PM
- 5 views
Global pollinator declines
by CJA Bradshaw in ConservationBytes
Mention anything about ecosystem services – those ecological functions arising from the interactions between species that provide some benefit (source of food/clean water, health, etc.) to humanity1 – and one of the most cited examples is pollination.
It’s really a no-brainer, hence its popularity as an example. Pollinators (mainly insects, but birds, bats and other assorted [...]... Read more »
Potts, S., Biesmeijer, J., Kremen, C., Neumann, P., Schweiger, O., & Kunin, W. (2010) Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers. Trends in Ecology . DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.01.007
- March 10, 2010
- 09:40 PM
- 12 views
Natural climate factors unlikely to put the brakes on greenhouse-gas-driven sea level rise this century
by Phil Camill in Global Change: Intersection of Nature and Culture
The IPCC 2007 report projected a conservative sea level rise of about 18-59 cm by the year 2100.
Why conservative? Because it mainly accounted for things we know are happening and can measure well—like thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of land glaciers (see here for a discussion of the Kilimanjaro example). What it doesn’t [...]... Read more »
Jevrejeva, S., J. C. Moore, and A. Grinsted. (2010) How will sea level respond to changes in natural and anthropogenic forcings by 2100?. Geophysical Research Letters. info:/10.1029/2010GL042947
- March 10, 2010
- 05:41 PM
- 18 views
Prehistoric DNA reveals the story of a Pleistocene survivor, the muskox
A muskox (Ovibos moschatus), photographed in Alaska. From Flickr user drurydrama.
Of all the mass extinctions that have occurred during earth's history, among the most hotly debated is the one which wiped out mammoths, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths, and the other peculiar members of the Pleistocene megafauna around 12,000 years ago. It was not the most severe mass extinction, not by a long shot, but unlike the end-Cretaceous catastrophe 65 million years ago there is no single "sm........ Read more »
Campos, P., Willerslev, E., Sher, A., Orlando, L., Axelsson, E., Tikhonov, A., Aaris-Sorensen, K., Greenwood, A., Kahlke, R., Kosintsev, P.... (2010) Ancient DNA analyses exclude humans as the driving force behind late Pleistocene musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) population dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907189107
- March 10, 2010
- 05:10 PM
- 27 views
Can We Rely on fMRI?
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Craig Bennett (of Prefrontal.org) and Michael Miller, of dead fish brain scan fame, have a new paper out: How reliable are the results from functional magnetic resonance imaging?Tal over at the [citation needed] blog has an excellent in-depth discussion of the paper, and Mind Hacks has a good summary, but here's my take on what it all means in practical terms.Suppose you scan someone's brain while they're looking at a picture of a cat. You find that certain parts of their brain are activated to ........ Read more »
Bennett CM, Miller MB. (2010) How reliable are the results from functional magnetic resonance imaging?. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. info:/
- March 10, 2010
- 05:00 PM
- 18 views
Disease hunting with whole genome sequences: the good news, and the bad news
by dgmacarthur in Genetic Future
Lupski, J.R., et al. (2010). Whole-genome sequencing in a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy. New England Journal of Medicine advance online 10.1056/nejmoa0908094Roach, J.C., & et al. (2010). Analysis of genetic inheritance in a family quartet by whole-genome sequencing. Science : 10.1126/science.1186802[Note that links to the papers may not yet be active.]Two new papers out today - the first ever studies to employ whole-genome sequencing for disease gene discovery - ........ Read more »
Lupski, J.R. (2010) Whole-genome sequencing in a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy. New England Journal of Medicine. info:/10.1056/nejmoa0908094
Roach, J.C., & et al. (2010) Analysis of genetic inheritance in a family quartet by whole-genome sequencing. Science. info:/10.1126/science.1186802
- March 10, 2010
- 03:50 PM
- 13 views
Ancient DNA Isolated from Fossil Eggshells May Provide Clues to Eggstinction of Giant Birds
by GrrlScientist in Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, ancient DNA, aDNA, molecular biology, molecular ecology, archaeology, paleontology, fossil eggshell, extinct birds, giant moa, Dinornis robustus, elephant birds, Aepyornis maximus, Mullerornis, Thunderbirds, Genyornis, bpr3.org/?p=52,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper, journal club
Elephant bird, Aepyornis maximus, egg
compared to a human hand with a hummingbird egg balanced on a fingertip.
To conduct my avian research, I've isolated and........ Read more »
Charlotte L. Oskam, James Haile, Emma McLay, Paul Rigby, Morten E. Allentoft, Maia E. Olsen, Camilla Bengtsson, Gifford H. Miller, Jean-Luc Schwenninger, Chris Jacomb, Richard Walter, Alexander Baynes, Joe Dortch, Michael Parker-Pearson, M. Thomas P. Gilb. (2010) Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA. Proc. R. Soc. B. info:/10.1098/rspb.2009.2019
- March 10, 2010
- 12:50 PM
- 13 views
Spent Hydrogen Regeneration in Ammonia Borane Derivatives
by Michael Long in Phased
Shin-Yuan Liu (University of Oregon, United States) and coworkers have addressed a challenge that is often brushed aside in hydrogen fuel cell research, but which is absolutely critical for practical, real-world applications. This news feature was written on March 10, 2010.... Read more »
Campbell, P. G., Zakharov, L. N., Grant, D. J., Dixon, D. A., & Liu, S.-Y. (2010) Hydrogen Storage by Boron−Nitrogen Heterocycles: A Simple Route for Spent Fuel Regeneration. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132(10), 3289-3291. DOI: 10.1021/ja9106622
- March 10, 2010
- 12:20 PM
- 26 views
Immune response to brain infection may trigger Alzheimer's
by Mo in Neurophilosophy
ALZHEIMER'S Disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting an estimated 30 million people worldwide. The cause of the condition is unknown, but the prime suspect is amyloid-beta (Aβ), a 42-amino acid peptide which accumulates within neurons to form insoluble structures called senile plaques that are thought to be toxic. Aβ is synthesized in all neurons; it is associated with the cell membrane, and is thought to be involved in cell-to-cell signalling, but its exact role has eluded resea........ Read more »
Soscia, S., Kirby, J., Washicosky, K., Tucker, S., Ingelsson, M., Hyman, B., Burton, M., Goldstein, L., Duong, S., Tanzi, R.... (2010) The Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Amyloid β-Protein Is an Antimicrobial Peptide. PLoS ONE, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009505
- March 10, 2010
- 12:04 PM
- 15 views
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Organic Carbon (The Big Three)
by JL in Analyze Everything
I'm a stoichiometry kind of guy (even if I've been relatively unsuccessful lately), and stoichiometry seems to revolve around N, P and C. And really, mostly just N&P. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about how the terrestrial and upstream watershed affects the N, P, and C in receiving waters. So, for instance, if you change the proportion of wetlands, how is the ratio of these nutrients ... Read more »
Saunders, T., McClain, M., & Llerena, C. (2006) The biogeochemistry of dissolved nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon along terrestrial-aquatic flowpaths of a montane headwater catchment in the Peruvian Amazon. Hydrological Processes, 20(12), 2549-2562. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.6215
- March 10, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 18 views
Path Integration in Humans
by Jason Goldman in The Thoughtful Animal
I know you’ve all been waiting for it. We’ve talked about putting ants on stilts, kidnapping baby gerbils, and hijacking a truck full of geese. All in the name of science. Ants and gerbils taught us about the limitations of the path integration system, but also how amazingly cool it is. The geese suggested that [...]... Read more »
Landau, B., Spelke, E., & Gleitman, H. (1984) Spatial knowledge in a young blind child. Cognition, 16(3), 225-260. DOI: 10.1016/0010-0277(84)90029-5
- March 10, 2010
- 11:42 AM
- 16 views
Environmental news round up
by City University Science Journalism MA in Elements Science
Find out how climate change is affecting malaria, how ocean bacteria could be the key to producing clean fuels, how a tree purifies dirty water and more.... Read more »
Stelzer, R., Chittka, L., Carlton, M., & Ings, T. (2010) Winter Active Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) Achieve High Foraging Rates in Urban Britain. PLoS ONE, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009559
Michael Lea. (2010) Bioremediation of Turbid Surface Water Using Seed Extract from Moringa oleifera Lam. (Drumstick) Tree. Wiley InterScience. DOI: 10.1002/9780471729259.mc01g02s16
Chaves, L., & Koenraadt, C. (2010) Climate Change and Highland Malaria: Fresh Air for a Hot Debate. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 85(1), 27-55. DOI: 10.1086/650284
Savage, D., Afonso, B., Chen, A., & Silver, P. (2010) Spatially Ordered Dynamics of the Bacterial Carbon Fixation Machinery. Science, 327(5970), 1258-1261. DOI: 10.1126/science.1186090
- March 10, 2010
- 11:40 AM
- 34 views
Body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity and health: a critical appraisal
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
If you go to your physician's office and inquire about your weight status, he or she will measure your height and weight to derive your BMI (weight in kg divided by height in m squared). Then they will compare your BMI to that of established criteria to decide whether you are underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2), or obese (>30 kg/m2) . Often times, this measure alone determines whether or not you receive lifestyle treatment. But how useful........ Read more »
Ross R, & Janiszewski PM. (2008) Is weight loss the optimal target for obesity-related cardiovascular disease risk reduction?. The Canadian journal of cardiology. PMID: 18787733
- March 10, 2010
- 09:58 AM
- 22 views
Asteroid Strike Confirmed as Dinosaur Killer
by Brian Switek in Dinosaur Tracking
Sixty-five million years ago, life on Earth suffered one of the worst mass extinctions of all time. It was an event that killed creatures across the spectrum of life’s diversity, from tiny marine invertebrates to the largest dinosaurs, but what could have caused it?
A number of hypotheses have been forwarded over the years, most of [...]... Read more »
Schulte, P., Alegret, L., Arenillas, I., Arz, J., Barton, P., Bown, P., Bralower, T., Christeson, G., Claeys, P., Cockell, C.... (2010) The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary. Science, 327(5970), 1214-1218. DOI: 10.1126/science.1177265
- March 10, 2010
- 09:53 AM
- 25 views
Do Baby Einstein DVDs work? Exposing infants to educational dvds may affect their language development.
by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD in Child-Psych
A few weeks ago I wrote a study that showed that exposing premature babies to Mozart music may lead to metabolic changes that facilitate weight gain and better medical outcomes. That study is an example of one credible and positive outcome that came out of the “Mozart effect’ craze. Unfortunately, most of the other claims, [...]... Read more »
Richert, R., Robb, M., Fender, J., & Wartella, E. (2010) Word Learning From Baby Videos. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.24
- March 10, 2010
- 08:37 AM
- 32 views
Variable Expressivity and Epistasis, or, Why You Don’t Have Autism
by Rick Scavetta in DNA Dude
/div
Variable expressivity and epistasis go hand in hand when talking about genetic disorders. Knowing what they mean will help you really understand the kind of complications researchers are up against. In this article I’ll illustrate these concepts using a recently published paper on the causes of autism as an example.
One of the genetic risk factors [...]... Read more »
Veltman, J., & Brunner, H. (2010) Understanding variable expressivity in microdeletion syndromes. Nature Genetics, 42(3), 192-193. DOI: 10.1038/ng0310-192
Girirajan, S., Rosenfeld, J., Cooper, G., Antonacci, F., Siswara, P., Itsara, A., Vives, L., Walsh, T., McCarthy, S., Baker, C.... (2010) A recurrent 16p12.1 microdeletion supports a two-hit model for severe developmental delay. Nature Genetics, 42(3), 203-209. DOI: 10.1038/ng.534
- March 10, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 17 views
The impact of snorkeling on fish and macroalgae communities
by Rob Goldstein in Conservation Maven
A new study on snorkelers in the Mediterranean sea finds a rare piece of good news about human impacts on the marine environment.
Joachim Clauedet and fellow researchers looked at snorkeling within the Cerbère Banyuls Natural Marine Reserve in the French Mediterranean and found that the activity had no observable effect on the structure of fish or macroalgae communities.... Read more »
Claudet, J., Lenfant, P., & Schrimm, M. (2010) Snorkelers impact on fish communities and algae in a temperate marine protected area. Biodiversity and Conservation. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-010-9794-0
- March 10, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 22 views
Whatever happened to the audiophile?
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Back in the 1970s my parents had friends who had stacks of hi-fi separates with gold contact wiring and speaker stands on metal spikes. They were only playing Perry Como on vinyl, but that was their idea of fun, so good luck to them. When the CD emerged on to the market with its claims [...]Whatever happened to the audiophile? is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
... Read more »
Jerald Hughes. (2009) Emergent quality standards for digital entertainment experience goods: the case of consumer audio. Int. J. Services and Standards, 5(4), 333-353. info:/
- March 10, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 20 views
Rattling neuroethology’s windows
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
As I’ve written recently, I don’t feel all that at home and comfortable in the field of neuroscience. I feel much more at home in the discipline of neuroethology, which investigates the neural bases of naturally occurring animal behaviour. It is populated by people who still appreciate diversity.
Having said that neuroethology is my intellectual home, I would like to rattle the windows in my own house a bit.
Neuroethology has a bunch of great people working on cool stories. And yet it is n........ Read more »
Bullock, T. (1999) Neuroethology has pregnant agendas. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 185(4), 291-295. DOI: 10.1007/s003590050389
- March 10, 2010
- 06:15 AM
- 24 views
Vaccinia virus in Brazil: What a long, strange trip
by iayork in Mystery Rays from Outer Space
Krishna, milking a cow
Vaccinia virus is a widespread virus whose natural host remains unknown. It turns out to be pretty good at jumping across species.
Vaccinia, of course, is the vaccine against smallpox. Even though smallpox is eliminated in the wild,1 vaccinia is still very widely used in research and even, to some extent, in [...]... Read more »
Moussatché N, Damaso CR, & McFadden G. (2008) When good vaccines go wild: Feral Orthopoxvirus in developing countries and beyond. Journal of infection in developing countries, 2(3), 156-73. PMID: 19738346
Alzhanova, D., Edwards, D., Hammarlund, E., Scholz, I., Horst, D., Wagner, M., Upton, C., Wiertz, E., Slifka, M., & Früh, K. (2009) Cowpox Virus Inhibits the Transporter Associated with Antigen Processing to Evade T Cell Recognition. Cell Host , 6(5), 433-445. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2009.09.013
Essbauer, S., Pfeffer, M., & Meyer, H. (2010) Zoonotic poxviruses☆. Veterinary Microbiology, 140(3-4), 229-236. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.08.026
DRUMOND, B., LEITE, J., DAFONSECA, F., BONJARDIM, C., FERREIRA, P., & KROON, E. (2008) Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains are genetically divergent and differ from the Lister vaccine strain. Microbes and Infection, 10(2), 185-197. DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2007.11.005
Abrahão, J., Guedes, M., Trindade, G., Fonseca, F., Campos, R., Mota, B., Lobato, Z., Silva-Fernandes, A., Rodrigues, G., Lima, L.... (2009) One More Piece in the VACV Ecological Puzzle: Could Peridomestic Rodents Be the Link between Wildlife and Bovine Vaccinia Outbreaks in Brazil?. PLoS ONE, 4(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007428
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