- June 18, 2013
- 01:01 AM
- 4 views
The Hazards of Debating Race and Inequality
by Eric Horowitz in peer-reviewed by my neurons
Imagine there is a certain advantaged group of people that supports a policy that harms a disadvantaged group, and you believe there are hints of racial or ethnic bias underlying their position. Even if the advantaged group doesn’t literally believe that the disadvantaged group is less deserving, it’s impossible to view their insensitivity to the [...]... Read more »
Saguy, T., Chernyak-Hai, L., Andrighetto, L., & Bryson, J. (2013) When the powerful feels wronged: The legitimization effects of advantaged group members' sense of being accused for harboring racial or ethnic biases. European Journal of Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.1948
Rasinski, H., Geers, A., & Czopp, A. (2013) "I Guess What He Said Wasn't That Bad": Dissonance in Nonconfronting Targets of Prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. DOI: 10.1177/0146167213484769
- June 17, 2013
- 06:18 PM
- 11 views
New Silicon Wafer Production Method to Make Solar Cells Cheaper
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
A team of researchers from the Nanoengineering Research Centre (CRNE) and the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC) has found a way to manufacture crystalline silicon materials cheaper and faster.... Read more »
Hernández, D., Trifonov, T., Garín, M., & Alcubilla, R. (2013) “Silicon millefeuille”: From a silicon wafer to multiple thin crystalline films in a single step. Applied Physics Letters, 102(17), 172102. DOI: 10.1063/1.4803009
- June 17, 2013
- 05:10 PM
- 10 views
On the Trail of Ancient Killers
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The newly unveiled genome of a medieval strain of the mycobacterium that causes leprosy is a technical triumph borne of next-generation sequencing machines and clever new techniques to extract target DNA from a soup of ancient molecules. Awash in data, several labs are racing neck-and-neck to cull DNA from a Most Wanted list of other legendary killers: tuberculosis, plague, cholera, Leishmania, the potato blight, and AIDS. They gather traces of these culprits from ancient teeth, bones, hair, fec........ Read more »
Gibbons, A. (2013) On the Trail of Ancient Killers. Science, 340(6138), 1278-1282. DOI: 10.1126/science.340.6138.1278
- June 17, 2013
- 04:18 PM
- 11 views
Supreme Court rules natural genes not patentable
by Liza Lester in EcoTone
Unanimous decision against BRCA breast cancer susceptibility gene patents in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.
Plus: a movie about BRCA1 discoverer Mary-Claire King.... Read more »
Hall, J., Lee, M., Newman, B., Morrow, J., Anderson, L., Huey, B., & King, M. (1990) Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21. Science, 250(4988), 1684-1689. DOI: 10.1126/science.2270482
Miki, Y., Swensen, J., Shattuck-Eidens, D., Futreal, P., Harshman, K., Tavtigian, S., Liu, Q., Cochran, C., Bennett, L., Ding, W.... (1994) A strong candidate for the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1. Science, 266(5182), 66-71. DOI: 10.1126/science.7545954
Wooster, R., Neuhausen, S., Mangion, J., Quirk, Y., Ford, D., Collins, N., Nguyen, K., Seal, S., Tran, T., Averill, D.... (1994) Localization of a breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2, to chromosome 13q12-13. Science, 265(5181), 2088-2090. DOI: 10.1126/science.8091231
- June 17, 2013
- 02:52 PM
- 19 views
Hey boy, you really activate my ventral midbrain
by Brooke N in Smaller Questions
Scientists at CalTech simultaneously found a way to stimulate your midbrain without invasive methods (ie: opening up your skull) and make you find them attractive.
Chib, et al. reported in Translational Psychiatry that by using their newly designed noninvasive method called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the prefrontal cortex they were able to activate the interconnected midbrain.... Read more »
Chib VS, Yun K, Takahashi H, & Shimojo S. (2013) Noninvasive remote activation of the ventral midbrain by transcranial direct current stimulation of prefrontal cortex. Translational psychiatry. PMID: 23756377
- June 17, 2013
- 12:03 PM
- 33 views
Brain Insula Signals Response to Depression Treatment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a research summary of the potential for brain imaging to be a clinical tool in the diagnosis of brain disorders in the mood disorders domain.One of the key points in that review is the value of finding brain biomarkers for response to specific treatments.To follow up on this point, a recent research study has been published that proposes the brain insular cortex region may be key to determining specific treatment response in major depressive disorder.Helen Mayberg ........ Read more »
McGrath CL, Kelley ME, Holtzheimer PE, Dunlop BW, Craighead WE, Franco AR, Craddock RC, & Mayberg HS. (2013) Toward a Neuroimaging Treatment Selection Biomarker for Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760393
- June 17, 2013
- 11:27 AM
- 13 views
Mars have building blocks of life as shown by the Martian rock from Antarctica
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Scientists studied Martian meteorite obtained from Antarctica and found potential building block of life in it.
Published in:
PLoS ONE
Study Further:
Scientists have found good amount of boron in the rock. Boron is considered as the important element in the development of ribonucleic acid or RNA, which a nucleic acid that contains the sugar ribose. It is found in all living cells, and is essential for the manufacture of proteins according to the instructions carried by........ Read more »
Stephenson, J., Hallis, L., Nagashima, K., & Freeland, S. (2013) Boron Enrichment in Martian Clay. PLoS ONE, 8(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064624
- June 17, 2013
- 10:35 AM
- 14 views
Autoimmune disease as a risk factor for mood disorder?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Autoimmunity, the process by which the immune system fails to recognise self as self and subsequently targets those self tissues and cells, is something talked about quite a lot on this blog with autism specifically in mind. Part of the very wide and diverse immune-related features which have been discussed with at least some of the autisms in mind, it's not yet altogether clear exactly how and why autoimmunity is linked to behaviour but the association is an interesting one.Sally? @ Wikipe........ Read more »
Benros ME, Waltoft BL, Nordentoft M, Ostergaard SD, Eaton WW, Krogh J, & Mortensen PB. (2013) Autoimmune Diseases and Severe Infections as Risk Factors for Mood Disorders: A Nationwide Study. JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760347
- June 17, 2013
- 10:26 AM
- 23 views
3 Ways Concept Maps Help You Learn
by Louise Rasmussen in Head Smart
Concept maps are pictures that that show how ideas relate to each other. In a concept map, ideas are represented as nodes, and the relationships between them as links with descriptive labels. Concept maps can be very large and complex—and they can be very small and simple. You can use concept maps to capture, communicate, and simplify [...]... Read more »
Nesbit, J., & Adesope, O. (2006) Learning With Concept and Knowledge Maps: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 76(3), 413-448. DOI: 10.3102/00346543076003413
Redford, J., Thiede, K., Wiley, J., & Griffin, T. (2012) Concept mapping improves metacomprehension accuracy among 7th graders. Learning and Instruction, 22(4), 262-270. DOI: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2011.10.007
- June 17, 2013
- 09:32 AM
- 22 views
No Sex Drive? There’s A Pill For That
by Alvin Lin in United Academics
In my mind, pills are like apps. Do you have a common problem to solve? There’s an app for that, as Apple has trademarked. Do you have some health related issue? There’s probably a pill for that. Blood pressure? Check. Cholesterol? Check. Social anxiety? Check. Erectile dysfunction? Check. Obesity? Check. Female libido? Oops! No check! But just wait! Big Pharma is working on that! As far back as January 2005, as published in the British Medical Journal, attempts have been made to dev........ Read more »
Moynihan, R. (2005) The marketing of a disease: female sexual dysfunction. BMJ, 330(7484), 192-194. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.330.7484.192
- June 17, 2013
- 08:21 AM
- 15 views
To Grow, Plants Do the Mathematics
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
You see them in sunflowers and artichokes. The familiar, concentric spiral-shaped Fibonacci sequence is part of a lot of flowering plants. These patterns precisely follow the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8), in which each digit (once you move along) is the sum of the previous two. But until now, nobody really knew how plants knew to make these mathematically precise patterns.... Read more »
Pennybacker, M., & Newell, A. (2013) Phyllotaxis, Pushed Pattern-Forming Fronts, and Optimal Packing. Physical Review Letters, 110(24). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.248104
- June 17, 2013
- 08:00 AM
- 15 views
After the Devastation: Is There Hope For Large Wildlife Conservation Following Mountaintop Removal?
by David Steen in Living Alongside Wildlife
By David Jachowski
Photo by biotour13 via Flicker and a Creative Commons License
What if the future of biodiversity conservation isn't in National Parks and protected areas, but in abandoned places? The played-out farm fields or remains after mountaintop removal for a seam of coal. Those overused and now typically overlooked parcels of land that saw a brief boom in... Read more »
Wood, P., & Williams, J. (2013) Impact of Valley Fills on Streamside Salamanders in Southern West Virginia. Journal of Herpetology, 47(1), 119-125. DOI: 10.1670/11-187
Larkin, J., Maehr, D., Cox, J., Bolin, D., & Wichrowski, M. (2003) Demographic Characteristics of a Reintroduced Elk Population in Kentucky. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 67(3), 467. DOI: 10.2307/3802704
- June 17, 2013
- 07:41 AM
- 14 views
Calling into question the accuracy of the ‘Standard Otter Survey’
by Denise O'Meara in A dribble of knowledge
A new study by Reid et al. question the accuracy of a standardised survey method used across Europe to report the conservation status of the European otter (Lutra lutra). Reid et al. have found that the current survey method under detected otter presence at 22% of sites in Ireland, taking rainfall, surveyor variability and the number of bridges and confluences into account. ... Read more »
Reid, N., Lundy, M., Hayden, B., Lynn, D., Marnell, F., McDonald, R., & Montgomery, W. (2013) Detecting detectability: identifying and correcting bias in binary wildlife surveys demonstrates their potential impact on conservation assessments. European Journal of Wildlife Research. DOI: 10.1007/s10344-013-0741-8
- June 17, 2013
- 05:48 AM
- 19 views
NASA-Led Study Explains Decades of Black Hole Observations
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
A new study by astronomers at NASA, Johns Hopkins University and the Rochester Institute of Technology confirms long-held suspicions about how stellar-mass black holes produce their highest-energy light.... Read more »
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. (2013) NASA-Led Study Explains Decades of Black Hole Observations. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. info:/
- June 17, 2013
- 05:35 AM
- 24 views
How did sauropods get blood up their necks?
by Marc in Teaching Biology
Sauropods are the largest animals to have ever lived, surpassing whales even though they lived on land. Their unique anatomy, including their extremely long neck, has long been the subject of speculation and study, as their physiology must have stretched the limits of regular vertebrate capabilities. The topic of circulation is one central issue: how […]... Read more »
Seymour, R. (2009) Raising the sauropod neck: it costs more to get less. Biology Letters, 5(3), 317-319. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0096
- June 17, 2013
- 03:52 AM
- 24 views
Mutts Aren’t Always Healthier Dogs
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Dogs have been at humankind’s side for thousands of years; we’ve bred them for size, ferocity, hunting assistance (actually, assistance of all kinds), and perhaps above all, companionship. Now, a number of studies show how dogs evolved from their wild wolf ancestors, and what all that breeding has led to.... Read more »
Bellumori TP, Famula TR, Bannasch DL, Belanger JM, & Oberbauer AM. (2013) Prevalence of inherited disorders among mixed-breed and purebred dogs: 27,254 cases (1995-2010). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 242(11), 1549-55. PMID: 23683021
Axelsson E, Ratnakumar A, Arendt ML, Maqbool K, Webster MT, Perloski M, Liberg O, Arnemo JM, Hedhammar A, & Lindblad-Toh K. (2013) The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet. Nature, 495(7441), 360-4. PMID: 23354050
- June 17, 2013
- 03:05 AM
- 22 views
The diversity of the Other
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
Diversity is today widely seen as a social good and is actively promoted in ‘diversity policies’ such as those of Australia, the EU or the UK. Additionally, many institutions have their own policies devoted to managing diversity. These usually extol … Continue reading →... Read more »
Anthias, F. (2013) Moving beyond the Janus face of integratio and diversity discourses: towards an intersectional framing. The Sociological Review, 61(2), 323-343. DOI: 10.1111/1467-954X.12001
- June 17, 2013
- 01:47 AM
- 23 views
JUST PUBLISHED: Early Life Determinants of Reproductive Success
by Mark Rubin in The University of Newcastle's School of Psychology Newsline
Infertility is a rising problem around the world. Coupled with a current tendency to delay childbearing, the growth in the population of many countries has come to halt. Bacterial infections are an often overlooked cause for infertility. This is particularly relevant to the recent increase in Chlamydia infections among young people. When untreated, Chlamydia in pregnant women can be transmitted to the newborn. As a result, up to 15% of newly born babies are currently known to be infected with Ch........ Read more »
Sominsky, L., Sobinoff, A., Jobling, M., Pye, V., McLaughlin, E., & Hodgson, D. (2013) Immune regulation of ovarian development: programming by neonatal immune challenge. Frontiers in Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00100
- June 16, 2013
- 11:24 PM
- 23 views
Rhythms of Songbirds: City vs Nature
by Allison in Dormivigilia
It's true. Light pollution doesn't treat a songbird nicely... Read more »
Dominoni, D., Helm, B., Lehmann, M., Dowse, H., & Partecke, J. (2013) Clocks for the city: circadian differences between forest and city songbirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1763), 20130593-20130593. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0593
- June 16, 2013
- 06:28 PM
- 34 views
Palm Cooling in the Heat Helps Resistance and Endurance Performance
by AB Kirk in Stff Competition
Palm cooling is an effective way to keep cool during workouts. It may also be a good way to keep cool in hot places in general. Core temperature is aThe post Palm Cooling in the Heat Helps Resistance and Endurance Performance appeared first on WODMasters Stiff Competition.... Read more »
Grahn DA, Cao VH, Nguyen CM, Liu MT, & Heller HC. (2012) Work volume and strength training responses to resistive exercise improve with periodic heat extraction from the palm. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 26(9), 2558-69. PMID: 22076097
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