- September 9, 2010
- 06:30 PM
- 6 views
Predicting Drug Tolerance via Biochemical Feedback Elucidation
by Michael Long in Phased
Peer Bork (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany) and coworkers' computational analysis suggests that at least 8% of proteins are subject to drug-induced feedback loops, and therefore less susceptible to effective drug targeting. This news feature was written on September 9, 2010.... Read more »
Iskar, M., Campillos, M., Kuhn, M., Jensen, L. J., van Noort, V., & Bork, P. (2010) Drug-Induced Regulation of Target Expression. PLoS Computational Biology, 6(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000925
- September 9, 2010
- 06:09 PM
- 7 views
Could dieting pollute us?
by Melinda Moyer in Body Politic
I just stumbled across a thought-provoking study that I have to share. Korean researchers publishing in the International Journal of Obesity have found that weight loss is associated with higher blood levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—chemicals used to make pesticides and solvents that are notorious for accumulating in our bodies and in the environment. The researchers believe that POPs, which typically build up in fat, get released into the bloodstream when fat is burned. There, ........ Read more »
Lim JS, Son HK, Park SK, Jacobs DR Jr, & Lee DH. (2010) Inverse associations between long-term weight change and serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants. International journal of obesity (2005). PMID: 20820170
Chevrier, J., Dewailly, �., Ayotte, P., Mauriège, P., Després, J., & Tremblay, A. (2000) Body weight loss increases plasma and adipose tissue concentrations of potentially toxic pollutants in obese individuals. International Journal of Obesity, 24(10), 1272-1278. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801380
Hue, O., Marcotte, J., Berrigan, F., Simoneau, M., Doré, J., Marceau, P., Marceau, S., Tremblay, A., & Teasdale, N. (2006) Increased Plasma Levels of Toxic Pollutants Accompanying Weight Loss Induced by Hypocaloric Diet or by Bariatric Surgery. Obesity Surgery, 16(9), 1145-1154. DOI: 10.1381/096089206778392356
Sørensen, T., Rissanen, A., Korkeila, M., & Kaprio, J. (2005) Intention to Lose Weight, Weight Changes, and 18-y Mortality in Overweight Individuals without Co-Morbidities. PLoS Medicine, 2(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020171
Drøyvold WB, Lund Nilsen TI, Lydersen S, Midthjell K, Nilsson PM, Nilsson JA, Holmen J, & Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. (2005) Weight change and mortality: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Journal of internal medicine, 257(4), 338-45. PMID: 15788003
- September 9, 2010
- 03:28 PM
- 14 views
There will be blood. And barf.
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
It’s a tough world out there.
Prey species experience intense selection pressure to evolve ways to outwit their predators. Indeed, the ‘Life-Dinner’ principle explains that while unsuccessful predators lose a meal, unsuccessful prey will lose their lives! The diversity of ways in which prey species in the animal kingdom defend themselves against predators is extremely vast; [...]... Read more »
Bateman, P., & Fleming, P. (2009) There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect. Journal of Zoology, 278(4), 342-348. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x
- September 9, 2010
- 01:13 PM
- 27 views
The Famous Scientist
by Hadas Shema in Science Blogging in Theory and Practice
What makes a scientist famous?Rae Goodell (Later known as Simpson), in her dissertation-turned-book, "The Visible Scientists" studied the visible scientists of the seventies (Sagan, Skinner, Mead, etc.). Her book summarizes the essentials of being a famous scientist.The hardest to achieve is a credible reputation. The visible scientist is an authority. A well-known institution is a must (Harvard/Stanford/Any IV League university). A "Hot Topic". Back in the seventies people talked about the po........ Read more »
Goodell, R. (1977) The visible scientists. Boston : Little, Brown. info:other/0316320005
- September 9, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 26 views
Social Sensitivity Hypothesis and Migration
by Sean Roberts in A Replicated Typo 2.0
Given findings that certain genetic variants will make a person more reliant on social contact under stress, the social sensitivity hypothesis proposes that certain genetic variants ‘fit’ better with certain social structures. In support of this idea, Way and Lieberman (2010) find a correlation between the prevalence of this variant and the level of collectivism (as opposed to individualism) in a society. This post looks at how this effect might interact with migration patterns.... Read more »
Way, B., & Lieberman, M. (2010) Is there a genetic contribution to cultural differences? Collectivism, individualism and genetic markers of social sensitivity. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(2-3), 203-211. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsq059
Caspi, A., Karen Sugden,, Terrie E. Moffitt,, Alan Taylor,, Ian W. Craig,, HonaLee Harrington,, Joseph McClay,, Jonathan Mill,, Judy Martin,, Antony Braithwaite,.... (2003) Influence of Life Stress on Depression: Moderation by a Polymorphism in the 5-HTT Gene. Science, 301(5631), 386-389. DOI: 10.1126/science.1083968
- September 9, 2010
- 11:54 AM
- 19 views
More on The Social Sensitivity Hypothesis
by Sean Roberts in A Replicated Typo 2.0
In a recent post, James wrote about the Social Sensitivity hypothesis. Given findings that certain genetic variants will make a person more sensitive to social contact and more reliant on social contact under stress, it proposes that certain genetic variants ‘fit’ better with certain social structures. In support of this idea, Way and Lieberman (2010) find . . . → Read More: More on The Social Sensitivity Hypothesis... Read more »
Way, B., & Lieberman, M. (2010) Is there a genetic contribution to cultural differences? Collectivism, individualism and genetic markers of social sensitivity. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(2-3), 203-211. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsq059
Caspi, A., Karen Sugden,, Terrie E. Moffitt,, Alan Taylor,, Ian W. Craig,, HonaLee Harrington,, Joseph McClay,, Jonathan Mill,, Judy Martin,, Antony Braithwaite,.... (2003) Influence of Life Stress on Depression: Moderation by a Polymorphism in the 5-HTT Gene. Science, 301(5631), 386-389. DOI: 10.1126/science.1083968
- September 9, 2010
- 11:15 AM
- 16 views
Hawksbill Hope
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Things may not be as bleak as they once seemed for one endangered sea turtle. A new survey finds that hawksbill turtles are more widespread in the eastern Pacific than earlier studies had suggested. Still, the “comparatively optimistic” findings still show that the turtle continues to be highly endangered and will need help to survive. […] Read More »... Read more »
Gaos, A., Abreu-Grobois, F., Alfaro-Shigueto, J., Amorocho, D., Arauz, R., Baquero, A., Briseño, R., Chacón, D., Dueñas, C., Hasbún, C.... (2010) Signs of hope in the eastern Pacific: international collaboration reveals encouraging status for the severely depleted population of hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata. Oryx, 1-7. DOI: 10.1017/S0030605310000773
- September 9, 2010
- 11:11 AM
- 17 views
This Week in the Universe: September 2nd – September 8th
by S.C. Kavassalis in The Language of Bad Physics
Astrophysics and Gravitation:
What Supernova 1987A Left Behind
France, K., McCray, R., Heng, K., Kirshner, R., Challis, P., Bouchet, P., Crotts, A., Dwek, E., Fransson, C., Garnavich, P., Larsson, J., Lawrence, S., Lundqvist, P., Panagia, N., Pun, C., Smith, N., Sollerman, J., Sonneborn, G., Stocke, J., Wang, L., & Wheeler, J. (2010). Observing Supernova 1987A with the Refurbished Hubble Space Telescope Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1192134
Hubble Video: Supernova 1987A Observed by Hubble fro........ Read more »
France, K., McCray, R., Heng, K., Kirshner, R., Challis, P., Bouchet, P., Crotts, A., Dwek, E., Fransson, C., Garnavich, P.... (2010) Observing Supernova 1987A with the Refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1192134
Mahajan, S., & Yoshida, Z. (2010) Twisting Space-Time: Relativistic Origin of Seed Magnetic Field and Vorticity. Physical Review Letters, 105(9). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.095005
David F. Crawford. (2010) Observational evidence favours a static universe. arXiv. info:/1009.0953
Katrin Gelfert, & Adilson E. Motter. (2010) (Non)Invariance of Dynamical Quantities for Orbit Equivalent Flows . Communications in Mathematical Physics. info:/10.1007/s00220-010-1120-x
Steven Carlip. (2010) The Small Scale Structure of Spacetime. arXiv. arXiv: 1009.1136v1
- September 9, 2010
- 10:58 AM
- 15 views
The Younger Dryas Cooling was Limited to the Northern Hemisphere
by Michael Long in Phased
Michael Kaplan (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, United States) and coworkers report that the dramatic Younger Dryas cooling in the Northern Hemisphere was not manifested globally. This news feature was written on September 9, 2010.... Read more »
Kaplan, M. R., Schaefer, J. M., Denton, G. H., Barrell, D. J. A., Chinn, T. J. H., Putnam, A. E., Andersen, B. G., Finkel, R. C., Schwartz, R., & Doughty, A. M. (2010) Glacier retreat in New Zealand during the Younger Dryas stadial. Nature, 467(7312), 194-197. DOI: 10.1038/nature09313
- September 9, 2010
- 10:57 AM
- 25 views
Study Proves The Genetic Continuity of Jews
by Multiple authors in UT Blog
The study, published recently in Nature, analyzes the relationship between different Jewish communities, their possible common origins, and genetic relationship with differing peoples in whose midst one or another Jewish community has lived, often more than a thousand years. Continue reading →... Read more »
Behar, D., Yunusbayev, B., Metspalu, M., Metspalu, E., Rosset, S., Parik, J., Rootsi, S., Chaubey, G., Kutuev, I., Yudkovsky, G.... (2010) The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people. Nature, 466(7303), 238-242. DOI: 10.1038/nature09103
- September 9, 2010
- 10:38 AM
- 20 views
Concavenator: an incredible allosauroid with a weird sail (or hump)... and proto-feathers?
by Darren Naish in Tetrapod Zoology
The last few weeks have been pretty exciting for people interested in theropod dinosaurs.... but then, you could say this about most weeks: new theropods are constantly being published.
Last week saw the publication of the weird, functionally two-fingered, short-footed maniraptoran Balaur bondoc from the latest Cretaceous of the Haţeg Basin in Romania (Csiki et al. 2010) [left foot of Balaur shown here, from BBC News]. When Balaur was alive, the Hateg region was an island, so this was ano........ Read more »
Naish, D., & Martill, D. (2007) Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia. Journal of the Geological Society, 164(3), 493-510. DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492006-032
- September 9, 2010
- 10:36 AM
- 25 views
Vitamin B and Brain Atrophy in Alzheimer's Disease
by Bill Yates in Brain Posts
Disclosure: I am not a big supporter of vitamin therapy for clinical neuroscience disorders. Of my previous 131posts, I have only referenced on study related to vitamin therapy---that was a study that found no improvement in treating dementia with vitamin E. Nevertheless, today's post focusses on a new study of B vitamins in mild cognitive impairment. I ran across a randomized controlled trial using B vitamins in a controlled study of brain atrophy (Hat tip to BBC news). ........ Read more »
Smith, A., Smith, S., de Jager, C., Whitbread, P., Johnston, C., Agacinski, G., Oulhaj, A., Bradley, K., Jacoby, R., & Refsum, H. (2010) Homocysteine-Lowering by B Vitamins Slows the Rate of Accelerated Brain Atrophy in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE, 5(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012244
- September 9, 2010
- 10:30 AM
- 18 views
What Does Video Game Research Really Say? (Part 1/10)
by Richard Landers in Thoughts of a Neo-Academic
In this 10-part series, I'm reviewing articles in a recent special issue of the Journal of General Psychology on video games across a variety of domains - child-rearing, education, entertainment, and even psychotherapy.... Read more »
Ferguson, C. (2010) Blazing angels or resident evil? Can violent video games be a force for good?. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 68-81. DOI: 10.1037/a0018941
Kato, P., Cole, S., Bradlyn, A., & Pollock, B. (2008) A video game improves behavioral outcomes in adolescents and young adults with cancer: A randomized trial. PEDIATRICS, 122(2). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-3134
- September 9, 2010
- 09:19 AM
- 19 views
Human sacrifices, uranium, and corals
by Uncharted Atolls in Uncharted Atolls
The development of shrines and temple architecture associated with chiefdoms and early states is thought to be a slow process. In Mesoamerica, a sequence of architectural evolution took 1300 years, according to archaeological evidence. However, this may not always be … Continue reading →... Read more »
Sharp, W., Kahn, J., Polito, C., & Kirch, P. (2010) Rapid evolution of ritual architecture in central Polynesia indicated by precise 230Th/U coral dating. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(30), 13234-13239. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1005063107
- September 9, 2010
- 08:23 AM
- 20 views
Selective cell death mediated by small conditional RNAs
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Cancer cells are characterized by genetic mutations that deregulate cell proliferation and suppress cell death. To arrest the uncontrolled replication of malignant cells, conventional chemotherapies systemically disrupt cell division, causing diverse and often severe side effects as a result of...... Read more »
Venkataraman, S., Dirks, R., Ueda, C., & Pierce, N. (2010) Selective cell death mediated by small conditional RNAs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1006377107
- September 9, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 27 views
Weight Bias Amongst Medical Students
by Arya M. Sharma in Dr. Sharma's Obesity Notes
As classes reopen and students flock back to their classes, here is an article that may be of particular interest to medical education.
In this study, published online in the International Journal of Obesity, Susan Persky and Colette Eccleston examined medical students’ care recommendations for an obese versus non-obese virtual patient.
A total of 76 clinical-level medical [...]... Read more »
Persky S, & Eccleston CP. (2010) Medical student bias and care recommendations for an obese versus non-obese virtual patient. International journal of obesity (2005). PMID: 20820169
- September 9, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 18 views
World Congress on Pain throws up a few gems
by Lorimer Moseley in BodyInMind
I have just been in Montreal for the World Congress on Pain – numerous presentations and about 1600 posters. It is the posters I really like – can be intimidating but there are always a few gems. Here is some preliminary work that I thought was interesting and which is relevant to work that our [...]... Read more »
Van Damme S, Gallace A, Spence C, Crombez G, & Moseley GL. (2009) Does the sight of physical threat induce a tactile processing bias? Modality-specific attentional facilitation induced by viewing threatening pictures. Brain research, 100-6. PMID: 19094970
- September 9, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 15 views
Eating your own brain: Ocean of Pseudoscience repost
by Zen Faulkes in NeuroDojo
Southern Fried Scientist decided to feature a week of surreal science related to the oceans. I take this opportunity to be a lazy blogger and repost this piece (slightly rewritten) from May 2008.
Adult sea squirts (also known as tunicates or ascidians) are sessile animals. As adults, they really don't move. But if anyone has heard about sea squirts, they’ve probably hear that little sea squirts start life as smart little tadpoles, searching this way and that for a place to land. Once they’v........ Read more »
Mackie GO, & Burighel P. (2005) The nervous system in adult tunicates: current research directions. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 83(1), 151-183. DOI: 10.1139/z04-177
Meinertzhagen IA, & Okamura Y. (2001) The larval ascidian nervous system: the chordate brain from its small beginnings . Trends in Neurosciences, 24(7), 401-410. DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(00)01851-8
- September 9, 2010
- 07:19 AM
- 20 views
The naked years
by Razib Khan in Gene Expression
When I talk about sexual selection I usually make sure to have an accompanying visual of a peacock to go with the post. But really I could have used a dandy as an illustration, or perhaps in our day & age “The Situation”. Unlike the peacock much of what passes for human “plumage” is not [...]... Read more »
Melissa A. Toups, Andrew Kitchen, Jessica E. Light, & David L. Reed. (2010) Origin of clothing lice indicates early clothing use by anatomically modern humans in Africa. Mol. Biol. Evol. . info:/doi:10.1093/molbev/msq234
- September 9, 2010
- 06:30 AM
- 15 views
An Emotional Timeline of 9/11
by John M Grohol PsyD in World of Psychology - Psych Central
As we approach the ninth anniversary of 9/11, researchers writing in Psychological Science this week analyzed 85,000 text pages sent through pagers during the 2 hours before and 18 hours after 9/11 took place. (You do remember what a pager is, don’t you?) WikiLeaks, the website in the news lately for other reasons, has made the 573,000 lines consisting of 6.4 million words freely available on its website for the past year.
What would these 85,000 pages tell us about the human emotion tha........ Read more »
Back MD, Küfner AC, & Egloff B. (2010) The Emotional Timeline of September 11, 2001. Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS. PMID: 20805373
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